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Abby Morton Diaz 









































































COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






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POLLY COLOGNE 



POLLY COLOGNE 


BY 

MRS. ABBY MORTON DIAZ 

11 

AUTHOR OF “THE WILLIAM HENRY LETTERS,” 
“WILLIAM HENRY AND HIS FRIENDS” 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
MORGAN J. SWEENEY (“Boz”) 


INTRODUCTION TO NEW EDITION BY 

BERTHA E. MAHONY 

THE BOOKSHOP FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, BOSTON. 


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* * * > 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 

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Cl ^300 















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Copyright, 1881, 

By D. LOTHROP & COMPANY. 


Copyright, 1909, 

By RALPH M. DIAZ. 


Copyright, 1930, 

By LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 


POLLY COLOGNE. 


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PRINTED IN U.S.A. 


SEP 17 1930 

©Cl 6 28305 





CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Introduction.7 

CHAPTER I 

A Catechism.15 

CHAPTER II 

The Adventures of the Jimmyjohns with Mr. Goram . 28 

CHAPTER III 

Polly sees Something of the World .... 46 

CHAPTER IV 

The New Home ..61 

CHAPTER V 

A Letter from “ Somewhere ”.78 

CHAPTER VI 

Spellman’s Court ..93 

CHAPTER VII 

Joey Moonbeam and the Jimmyjohns . . . .110 

CHAPTER VIII 

A pleasant little Affair . . . . . .127 


5 



6 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

IX 








PAGE 

Hunting a Botanist . 

• 

• 

• 

. 146 

CHAPTER 

X 




Mr. Wetherell receives Callers . 

• 

• 

• 

. 163 

CHAPTER 

XI 




The Mistake .... 

• 

• 

• 

. 183 

CHAPTER 

XII 




Welcome Home again . 

• 

e 

9 

. 198 


INTRODUCTION 


“ Polly Cologne ” was a rag doll no taller than a 
slate pencil and much beloved by Annetta Plum¬ 
mer. One day she disappeared, and that same 
day Rover went away, too. So, you see, “ Polly 
Cologne ” is not only the story of a lost doll and lost 
dog, but a mystery story as well. 

Many were the people, young and old, who had 
to do with Polly Cologne before her little mistress 
saw her again. As for Rover — well, you must read 
the book. In talking about a mystery story one 
must be very careful not to give away the plot. 

At the time “ Polly Cologne ” was written, there 
were no automobiles, no radios, no moving pic¬ 
tures, and people seemed to have lots of time to do 
things for children, and with children. Ever so 
many people had time to help find a lost doll. 

In her lifetime, Mrs. Abby Morton Diaz, who 
wrote the story, must have had much the same fasci¬ 
nation for children that some of her people have in 
“ Polly Cologne.” I know that her grandchildren 


7 



8 


INTRODUCTION 


delighted in her, because one of them has often 
told me so. In “ Polly Cologne ”, too, Mrs. Diaz was 
picturing what children and grown-ups did in her 
childhood home town of Plymouth. As a little girl 
she was Abby Morton. She was born in 1820 — 
that was forty-five years before President Lincoln 
freed the slaves. It was eleven years before the 
first railroad. Indeed, when Abby Morton was 
twelve years old she used to come up to Boston to 
Abolitionist meetings with her father in a sailboat. 
And in Plymouth she and some other friends of hers 
belonged to an Anti-Slavery Society and went with¬ 
out butter in order to save money to contribute to 
the cause. 

Her father was a ship-builder, but she heard a 
great deal of talk from him not only about the evils 
of slavery, but also about education and schools, 
and temperance. She heard much about the early 
beginnings of New England. Their home stood on 
land granted to her great-great-great-grandfather 
George Morton, one of the very first Pilgrims. She 
knew that this grandfather, three times great, had 
written the first book on The Massachusetts Bay 


INTRODUCTION 


9 


Colony “ Mourt’s Relation ”, and that her great- 
great-great-uncle Nathaniel had been the secretary 
of the Colony for forty years. 

Although she was interested in serious things as 
a girl, she was merry and gay as well. She knew 
more old ballads than any one else in town, and she 
had a singing school in her father’s kitchen. She 
could dance, too. She danced so well, in fact, and 
knew so many quadrilles and country dances, that 
she taught children and grown-ups to dance. Some¬ 
times the dancing classes were in the wood-room of 
the village schoolhouse; sometimes in an old foun- 
dry built over a brook, with lanterns hung from the 
beams. If she didn’t have a fiddler, Abby Morton 
could sing for the stepping, calling the directions 
as she sang. 

She wrote plays and dialogues for all festive oc¬ 
casions and helped the children produce them. 
She planned all the good times, and was famous for 
her originality in Christmas parties and summer 
picnics. She had skill in useful ways, too, and in 
later years she made all her own boys’ clothes — 
suits, caps, overcoats, — all except shoes. She 



10 


INTRODUCTION 


also picked up a knowledge of nursing and came 
to be much sought by doctors. 

When she was a girl of sixteen or seventeen her 
father took her with him to live at Brook Farm. 
Brook Farm was a famous effort to find a simpler, 
happier way of life. It was in Hawthorne’s time, 
and the region was a part of the present West Rox- 
bury. There Abby Morton met the young Spanish 
gentleman from Cuba, Mr. Diaz. They fell in love 
and were married. 

Later, when she had her children to care for and 
support alone, she drew upon all her accomplish¬ 
ments, but most of all, teaching — public schools, 
private schools, and dancing schools, — and she 
began to write at the encouragement of her cousin, 
although modestly doubtful of her own ability. 
She would write a story and then take it over to her 
cousins next door, saying, “ Listen. What do you 
think of this? ” Her first story she sold to the At¬ 
lantic Monthly. 

Besides all these interests, she worked for votes 
for women when it was hard to do so and when it 
made a person unpopular. She helped to form a 




INTRODUCTION 


11 


society to aid women at a time when machinery 
was just beginning and when things that women 
had made in their homes were being manufactured 
swiftly and in quantity in factories, so that women 
had to find other kinds of work. This society was 
the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union in 
Boston, the first of its kind in the world, and Mrs. 
Diaz was its second President for twelve years. 

During these years she did much public speak¬ 
ing, going north and south and as far west as St. 
Paul. In the last week of her life, when she was 

eighty-four years old, she went to Portland alone 

/• 

and gave a lecture. 

One cold winter day Mrs. Diaz came in to a com¬ 
mittee meeting at the Union. She lived then on a 
steep hill in Belmont. 

“ How,” asked her friends, “ did you get down 
your hill? ” 

“ Oh, very easily,” said Mrs. Diaz. “ I came 
down on my tippet. 1 I laid it down on the ice and 
walked to the end of it. Picked it up, laid it down 
again, walked to the end of it, and so on down 
the hill.” 


1 Her tippet was a woolen scarf. 


12 


INTRODUCTION 


Wasn’t the author of “ Polly Cologne ” an in¬ 
teresting person? She had all household skills. She 
could be an intelligent citizen. She could speak 
brilliantly. She could write delightfully. She could 
sing, she could dance. She was kind as the kindest 
in “ Polly Cologne ”, and she was witty, merry, 
and gay. 

All her life Mrs. Diaz was the “ Light Princess.” 
Nothing could dim her joy or daunt her courage — 
she had wings of buoyancy, “ Light of spirit by her 
charms, Light of body every part.” 2 

If she were able to step briskly and lightly across 
Boylston Street once more into the Union, perhaps 
she would feel that the bookshop for young people 
— new since her day — had something of the spirit 
with which she was herself surrounded, and possibly 
no spot would give her greater amusement and 
pleasure than the little colonial house in the Gar¬ 
dens’ corner of the bookshop where the two dolls 
Alice-Heidi and Wendy live, — rag dolls, even as 
“ Polly Cologne.” 

Bertha E. Mahony 


2 I know I’ve taken a slight liberty with George Macdonald. * 





POLLY COLOGNE 




POLLY COLOGNE 


CHAPTER I. 


A CATECHISM. 

Question. Who 

Answer. A rag 
rag baby, and 
never was any¬ 
thing else. 

Q. Where 
was the home of 
Polly Cologne? 

A. The home 
of Polly Co¬ 
logne was with 
the Plummer 
family, in the 
Land of Ease, 
in a cottage 
called Prairie 
Rose Cottage. 


was Polly Cologne? 

baby. She began her life as a 



POLLY COLOGNE. 

15 






















































































































































16 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Q. Was Polly uncommon of her kind? 

A. She was. 

Q. In what ways was she uncommon of her kind? 

A. She had feet; and light-colored floss-silk hair, 
which seemed like real hair; and pink cheeks; and 
blue eyes; and a rosebud mouth, and a pleasing 
smile. The hair of the other rag babies of the baby- 
house was stocking ravelings, and their eyes, noses, 
and mouths were done with charcoal, and they had 
to stand on their stiff petticoats, for they were with¬ 
out feet, excepting, of course, Joey Moonbeam, who 
was half a yard tall and had a face as big round as a 
pint bowl. 

Q. What was the size of Polly Cologne? 

A. She was the smallest of them all, not being 
any taller than a slate-pencil. 

Q. Of what size were the others? 

A. Of different sizes; smaller than Joey, larger 
than Polly. 

Q. Tell their names. 

A. Their names were, Dorothy Beeswax, Jenny 
Popover, Susan Sugarspoon, Betsey Ginger, arid 
Eudora N. Posy. N. stands for Nightingale. Not 


A CATECHISM 


17 


one of these was so dear to the heart of Annetta 
Plummer as Polly Cologne. 

Q. Was Annetta Plummer the girl who kept the 
baby-house? 

A. She was. 

Q. What was her age? 



A. She was seven years old on that very birth¬ 
day party of hers when Polly Cologne was lost. 

Q. How was Polly lost? 

A. There was a birthday party of little girls. 
They were playing supper in the orchard. Polly 
























18 


POLLY COLOGNE 


was allowed to come to table because she was the 
baby of the baby-house. She was dressed for the 
party in white gauze made over pink, and wore a 
locket, and wore a string of beads in her hair. Every 
one at table wanted to hold Polly. While they 
were passing her from one to the other, fondling 
her, patting, petting, stroking, kissing, squeezing, 

and praising her, 
something hap¬ 
pened to her quite 
strange and sad. 

Q. What was this 
thing so strange 
and sad? 

A . Rover, the 
Jimmyjohns’ play¬ 
ful little dog, caught her in his mouth, ran across the 
fields into the woods, and came back without her. 

Q. What did Rover do with her? 

A. Nobody knew whether he dropped her in the 
brook, buried her up like a bone, or what became 
of her. Mr. Plummer and others searched in vain 
for her that day and the next, and the next. 












A CATECHISM 


19 


Q. Was Rover punished? 

A. He was not; but people shamed him so much 
that at last whenever the subject was mentioned he 
would drop his tail and slink into a corner. On the 
day he was lost, this happened several times. 

Q. Was Rover lost also? 

A . He was. 

Q. In what way? 

A. Annetta showed him an apron that Polly 
Cologne had worn — a bib apron with pockets — 
and pointed to the outside door, and said, “ Go find 
her! Don’t come back till you find her! ” Rover 
took it in his mouth," darted away, and — did not 
come back. They searched, and 
found the apron caught in a bram¬ 
ble-bush, but Rover, nowhere. 

Q. What more can you tell of 
Rover and Polly Cologne? 

A . Their loss was much talked 
of in the Plummer family. When 
any one of them was late home, “go find her!” 
the others would ask, “ Have you found Polly? ” or 
“ You haven’t Polly in your pocket, have you? ” If 







20 


POLLY COLOGNE 


any stayed very late indeed, it would be said: “ Why, 
they must have gone to find Polly! ” Almost every 
day the Jimmyjohns went somewhere to look for 
her. Often when they were running along the road, 
people meeting them, or seeing them from windows, 
would say, “ There go the little Jimmyjohns to look 
for Polly Cologne.” 

Q. Who were the Jimmyjohns? 

A. Small young twins, Jimmy and Johnny Plum¬ 
mer. 

Q. Of what age were they at the time of the loss 
of Polly Cologne? 

A. Nearly five years. 

Q. Describe them. 

A. They had chubby cheeks, puggy noses, bright 
black eyes, and dark hair. They were just of a size, 
were always together, were always dressed just 
alike, and did the same things, and looked so much 
alike that people could not tell them apart. They 
were called the Jimmyjohns , even by their own 
family. 

Q. How were they dressed? 

A. In frocks, short trousers, long stockings, but- 


A CATECHISM 


21 


ton boots, belts, hats with turned-up rims, and nar¬ 
row neckties. 

Q. Could each boy tell his own clothes? 

A. He could. 

Q. In what way? 



MR. TOMPKINS, THE LOBSTER MAN. 


A. By blue-flannel peppermints sewed on the in¬ 
side of Jimmy’s clothes, and red-flannel pepper¬ 
mints sewed on the inside of Johnny’s. 

Q. Could the twins’ mother tell the boys apart? 
A. The twins’ mother, Mrs. Plummer, found it so 









i 


22 POLLY COLOGNE 

hard to tell the boys apart that she made a blue dot 
at each end of Jimmy’s neckties, and a red dot at 

each end of Johnny’s. 

Q. Were the twins 
fond of each other? 

A. They were. 
They seemed to feel 
alike as much as they 
looked alike. They 
never quarrelled. If 
one got hurt, the other 
cried; and whatever 
good things one had given him, the other had half. 
What one liked to do, the other liked to do; where 
one wanted to go, the other wanted to go. All the 
people around there were interested in the Jimmy- 
johns. Mr. Tompkins, the little Lobster Man, al¬ 
most every time he came, gave them some of the feel¬ 
ers of his lobsters to give Annetta to cut up into red 
beads for a necklace for Polly when she should be 
brought back; and sometimes a small lobster for 
themselves, though, of course, they gave Annetta 
some, and let Josephus, the baby, have a claw to 



JOSEPHUS, THE BABY. 


A CATECHISM 


23 


suck. As for the Funny Man, he liked nothing better 
than to talk soberly with them about Polly, and tell 
them of places where she might perhaps be found. 
Poor little fellows! 

Many a weary search 
they had in fields and 
woods and along the 
edges of brooks and 
ponds; and many a 
tear they shed for Ro¬ 
ver, their cunning lit¬ 
tle Rover! After Ro¬ 
ver was lost they were 
given a very little dog 
named Snip; but Snip 
ate something from 
Effie’s arm-basket and 
had a sickness and 
died, though the Funny Man did his best to cure him. 

Q. Who was Effie? 

A. Annetta’s little sister, three years old. She 
liked to carry a basket on her arm. 

Q. Who was the Funny Man? 



THE FUNNY MAN. 





























































24 


POLLY COLOGNE 


A. The Funny Man was an umbrella-mender. 

Q. Why was the Funny Man called the Funny 
Man? 

A. The Funny Man was called the Funny Man 
because he was funny. 



THE FUNNY MAN’S HOUSE. 


Q. Did he dwell in the Land of Ease? 

A . He dwelt in the Land of Ease, a little way from 
the houses, in a wild pasture land. 

Q. Had he a family? 





A CATECHISM 


25 


A. He had not. He lived by himself in a hut 
upon a level place in the pastures. 

Q. Describe the place. 

A. All around grew pasture grasses, bayberry 
bushes, sweet-fern, and everlasting. In the autumn 
it was purple and yellow with wild asters and golden- 
rod. There was an old umbrella nailed to the ridge¬ 
pole of the hut, as a sign of the Funny Man’s busi¬ 
ness. 

Q. What is a ridgepole? 

A. The answer to that is in the dictionary. 

Q. Had the Funny Man any other business be¬ 
sides mending umbrellas? 

A. Yes. He took sick animals to cure, and he 
made bayberry tallow from bayberries. 

Q. Can you tell something more of the Funny 
Man? 

A. He was quite tall, and he had blue eyes, and 
a long nose, and a smiling face, and light curly hair. 
He liked to talk with the Jimmyjohns. After Polly 
Cologne was lost, he sent them to look for her in 
curious places. He asked them sometimes: “ Do 
you think Rover buried her up, as he buries up 


26 


POLLY COLOGNE 


bones? Do you think he dropped her in the brook? 
If he dropped her in the brook, do you think she 
floated down to the salt water? If she floated off in 
the salt water, do you think she was washed ashore 
on the rocks? ” One morning he told them they 
had better go to the shore and look 
on the rocks. 

Q. What did their mother say 
to this? 

A. She was willing. She let 
them go with Mr. Scott in his s 
horse-cart. Mr. Scott was to stay 
a long time, 
drawing up sea¬ 
weed and piling 
it in piles. While 
he was drawing 

up seaweed, the LOOKING FOR POLLY COLOGNE. 

Jimmyjohns ran far along the shore, looking 
for Polly Cologne, and met the Lobster Man, 
and had some curious adventures with a man 
of the name of Goram — Mr. Jabez Goram, 
the old gentleman, as he was called, to dis- 
















A CATECHISM 


27 


tinguish him from young Mr. Jabez Goram, 
his son. 

This is the end of the Catechism. All who have 
learned it, and who care to hear of the adventures 
of the Jimmyjohns in trying to find Polly Cologne, 
and of the reward offered for finding her, and to 
hear who did find her, and how she went on her 
travels, and of the different people she stayed with, 
and how she came back, and when she came, and 
what happened to Rover, and how he came back, 
and when he came back, are invited to listen. 




JOHNNY IN TROUBLE. 


CHAPTER II. 

THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 
WITH MR. GORAM. 

T HE Jimmyjohns ran far along the shore, look¬ 
ing among the rocks for Polly Cologne. Pres¬ 
ently they saw Mr. Tompkins, the Lobster Man, 
still farther on, and ran towards him. 


28 




THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 29 


The Lobster Man asked them how they came so 
far from home, and which was Jimmy and which was 
Johnny, and then he shut his eyes and let them 
change about, and tried in vain to tell which was 
which, and asked them how they knew themselves 
apart; and they 
showed the flan¬ 
nel peppermints of 
blue and red. Peo¬ 
ple liked to make 
them do this. 

All at once the 
Lobster Man ex¬ 
claimed, “ You are 
the very boys to 
do my errand! I 
want you to carry two lobsters up to the Widow 
Simmons. Will you go? ” 

They said, “ We don’t know where she lives.” 
The Lobster Man pointed to a path leading up 
a steep cliff. “ Go up that path,” said he, “ and you 
will see a road: walk along that road and you will 
come to a white house with green blinds. That is 



JIMMY ON THE WAY TO THE WIDOW 
SIMMONS’. 




30 


POLLY COLOGNE 


not the Widow Simmons’ house. Mr. Goram lives 
there; Mr. Jabez Goram, the old gentleman. Pass 
by the white house with green blinds and go on to 

the next one; a small red house. 
That’s the Widow Simmons’. 
Tell her I am coming there to 
dinner.” 

The Jimmies took each a lob¬ 
ster and went up the narrow 
path and walked along the road 
at the top. When they had 
nearly reached the white house 
with green blinds, Johnny sat 
down to empty the sand out of 
his shoes, and Jimmy took John¬ 
ny’s lobster and said he would be 
walking along slow. 

Now as Jimmy was passing 
the woman with the the white house with green 

INFLUENZA. 

blinds, he heard a knocking. He 
looked up and saw that the back-porch door was 
open a crack, and saw a woman’s hand and arm 
beckoning to him through the crack. He laid his 


















THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 31 

lobsters down behind a rock, in the grass, and ran 
to see what the woman might want. 

The door was open just wide enough to show her 
face. She had a nightcap on, and a small flannel 
blanket over the nightcap, and she held her shawl 
to her mouth. Said this woman to Jimmy, speaking 
from behind her shawl: 

“ I am almost sick with the influenza. I want a 
few sound apples to make me a cooling drink; won’t 
you run to the apple-tree in the field yonder and 
fetch me three or four? If you can’t reach up, take 
a stick; and if you see my white rabbit anywhere,” 
said she, “ catch him for me and I will give you a 
doughnut; but don’t go looking for him,” said she, 
“ till you’ve fetched the apples.” 

Jimmy ran to the field, picked up a stick, and was 
just knocking off the second apple, when there came 
a man out from the corn-crib; a large, broad-shoul¬ 
dered, elderly man with no coat on. His face was 
round and rosy; he had frizzly hair, and he wore a 
felt hat — a black one. It was Mr. Goram, Mr. 
Jabez Goram, the old gentleman. 

Mr. Goram walked slowly up to Jimmy, took him 


32 


POLLY COLOGNE 


by the hand, and led him gently to the corn-crib; 
and as he led him gently to the corn-crib he said to 
him with a pleasant smile, “ I never hurt little boys 
who come to take my apples; I do not like to hurt 
little boys. But little boys who take apples must 
be punished in some way; and so,” said Mr. Goram, 
pushing Jimmy into the corn-crib, “ I shut up lit¬ 
tle boys.” 

Jimmy began to cry, and as the door closed he 
went to a big knot-hole in it and sobbed out, “ The 
woman — in — that house — told me to! ” 

“ What house are you 
speaking of? ” asked Mr. 
Goram mildly. 

“ That white one,” said 
Jimmy. 

“ Little boy,” said Mr. 
Goram in the same pleasant 
tone, “ the woman in that 
house is my wife. I left her 
on the bed, sick with influ¬ 
enza. It is not likely that a woman sick in bed with 
influenza should have sent a little boy here for ap- 





MR. JABEZ GORAM, THE OLD 
GENTLEMAN. 





THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 33 

pies. I will leave you alone awhile. It will not hurt 
you. I never hurt little boys.” He then fastened 
the door with the hook and walked away to the barn. 

You will remember that Johnny stayed behind 
to empty the sand from his shoes. He did this, and 
was about to put them on, when a white rabbit 
hopped past on the other side of the road. He 
dropped his shoes by a fence-post 
and ran to catch the rabbit. It 
led him a long chase, for every 
time that he was just going to put 
his hand on it, it sprang forward. 

He gave up at last, and went MRS - GORAM ’ s wmTZ 

^ 1 RABBIT. 

back to get his shoes. He had 
forgotten which was the right fence-post, and it took 
him some time to find it, but he did find it, and put 
on his shoes and ran to catch Jimmy. 

As he was passing the white house with green 
blinds he heard a knocking. He looked towards the 
house and saw that the back-porch door was open 
a crack, and saw a woman’s hand and arm beckon¬ 
ing to him through the crack, and ran up to see what 
she might want; a tall, thin woman she seemed to 



34 


POLLY COLOGNE 


be. She had a nightcap on, and a small flannel 
blanket over the night-cap, and she held her shawl 
to her mouth. The woman thought Johnny was 
the boy she had sent for the apples. 



AT THE FUNNY MAN’S HOUSE. 


“ Have you got me any apples? ” she asked, 
speaking behind her shawl. 

“ No, ma’am,” said Johnny. 





THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMY JOHNS 35 

“ Oh, I know what you've been doing! ” said the 
woman. “ You’ve been hunting the rabbit.” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” said Johnny. 

“ Oh, you have, have you? When I told you I 
wanted the apples first! But did you find him? ” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” said Johnny. “ He hopped off 
down that road.” And he pointed towards the 
shore. 

“ O dear! ” said the woman. “ He’ll get away! 
Do run and turn him back! Run quick! ” 

As Johnny ran towards the shore, he saw the rab¬ 
bit springing across a field in the direction of a barn. 
He ran across another field, and came out close to 
the barn and ahead of the rabbit. He started to 
catch the rabbit, when there came from behind the 
barn a large, broad-shoulderd, elderly man, with no 
coat on. His face was round and rosy, he had friz¬ 
zly hair, and he wore a felt hat — a black one. It 
was Mr. Goram, Mr. Jabez Goram, the old gentle¬ 
man. He thought Johnny was the boy he had shut 
up in the corn-crib. 

“ Little boy,” he asked, speaking in a mild voice, 
“ who let you out of my corn-crib? ” 



36 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“I — I wasn’t in there,” answered Johnny. 

“ You are a bad little boy to say that to me,” said 
Mr. Goram. “ Did I not put you in my corn-crib 
for taking my apples? ” 

“ No, sir! ” cried Johnny, staring at Mr. Goram. 

“ Very well,” said Mr. Goram, “ come this way. 
I never hurt little boys. I don’t like to hurt little 
boys. But naughty boys must be punished, and 
you are a naughtier boy than I thought you were. 
If I did not shut you up in my corn-crib, I will shut 
you up in my barn,” said Mr. Goram. And Johnny 
found himself shut up in the barn. 

“ When I come home from the cornfield,” Mr. 
Goram called back as he was going away, “ I will let 
you out and talk with you.” 

Not long after Mr. Goram had gone, Johnny 
heard something drop suddenly upon the barn floor. 
It was the cat. She had jumped in at the window. 

The barn window was small, and it was pretty 
high up. Johnny stopped crying, shoved a box un¬ 
der the window, put a peck measure upside down 
on the box, climbed up to the window, squeezed 
himself through, let himself down outside, then 



THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMY JOHNS 37 



crept under some bushes, and then ran along behind 
a stone wall on the side 
of a field. The corn-crib 
was in this field, and 
presently he heard 
Jimmy calling from the 
knot-hole in the door: 

“ Let me out! Let me 
out. I — want — to — 
come — o-u-t! ” 

Johnny went to the 
corn-crib and unhooked 

■V. 

the door with the stick 
that Jimmy began to 
knock off apples with, 
and Jimmy came out, 
and they both ran as fast 
as they could go across 
two fields, and then along 
the road which led from johnny gets out the way the 

CAT GOT IN. 

the shore. They were 

afraid to go back to get the lobsters, lest they might 
meet Mr. Goram. 









38 


POLLY COLOGNE 


The road they were in took them at last into an¬ 
other road, and at a house in this road stood a 
butcher-cart which went every day past their own 
house, and the man said they might ride if they did 
not mind stopping at back doors. 

The butcher-cart in going here and there passed 
near the Funny Man’s house, and there was the 
Funny Man himself sitting in a chair on the broad 
flat stone that was his door-step, mending umbrellas 
and telling stories to six or eight boys. The boys 
sat around him on the ground, each boy under an 
umbrella that was going to be mended. Two old 
horses were feeding on a hill near by; a fat one and 
a lean one. The lean one was lame. There were 
two or three weak hens stepping around the door, 
and there was a handsome cat tied to a tree to keep 
her from running home. The Jimmies got down 
from the cart and ran to hear stories with the boys. 
The Funny Man laughed when he saw them coming, 
and picked out for them a faded umbrella big enough 
to cover them both. It was immense. Two of its 
ribs were broken, but that was no matter. 

After they had sat down under the umbrella, the 


THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 39 

Funny Man said he would offer a reward of a four- 
bladed jackknife to any one who would bring Polly 
Cologne to his house safe and sound. 

“ Earnest? ” the boys asked. 

“ Oh, yes,” he said. “ I’ll cross hands with you! ” 

They ran up and crossed hands with him, and then 
he let them go down in his cellar with him to see a 
large rooster that stood all the time in one spot stiff 
and straight like a white marble rooster, and would 
not eat. When they were all 
seated under the umbrellas 
again, he told them the story 
of the cat that hadn’t common 
sense. It is too long to be told 
now. 

Just as the story was ended, 

there came on a sort of drizzle THE ROOSTER THAT STOOD 

STIFF AND STRAIGHT. 

which was scarcely more than 
a wet fog; but the boys whispered to each other to 
ask the Funny Man to lend them the umbrellas to 
go home with. He knew what they were whisper¬ 
ing about, and asked them, “ Why don’t you bor¬ 
row some umbrellas to go home with? ” at which 






40 


POLLY COLOGNE 


the boys were much pleased. Some of them went 
home three under one umbrella. The Jimmies 
went under their immense broken one, both taking 
hold of the handle. The top came down near their 
heads. When the Plummer family were about to 
sit down to dinner that noon, Mr. Scott stopped at 

their gate with a 
load of seaweed, to 
ask if the Jimmy- 
johns had not come 
up from the shore. 

“ No, indeed,” 
cried Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer in alarm. “ Oh, 
where can they 
be? ” 

Annetta began to 
cry, and Mr. Plum¬ 
mer ran for his hat. 
In passing a window 
he stopped suddenly, looked out for a moment, and 
said with a smile, “ There seems to be a sort of four¬ 
legged umbrella moving this way.” 















































THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 41 

Everybody ran to the window, where they saw 
outside an immense broken umbrella, and under¬ 
neath it four feet and four legs, stepping towards 
the house. 

They soon came in and told the people all about 
Mr. Tompkins, the Lobster Man, and the two lob¬ 
sters, and Mr. Goram and Mr. Goram’s wife, and 
the corn-crib, and the barn, and the meat-cart, and 
the Funny Man, and the white rooster that stood 
still, and the cat that hadn’t common sense. 

“ I am sorry,” said Mr. Plummer, “ that the 
Widow Simmons did not get her lobsters.” 

But the Widow Simmons did get her lobsters. 

After supper that afternoon, when the Jimmy- 
johns were playing out in their back yard, an 
elderly gentleman in a buggy drove up to the 
gate and stopped. His face was round and rosy, 
he had frizzly hair, and he wore a felt hat — a 
black one. It was Mr. Goram, Mr. Jabez Goram, 
the old gentleman. Mr. Goram got slowly out of 
the buggy, hitched his horse, walked up to the 
Jimmyjohns and looked at them. 

“ Little boys,” said he, speaking in a mild and 



42 


POLLY COLOGNE 


pleasing tone, with a smile on his face, “ I am 
sorry I shut you up. You were not to blame. I 
made a mistake. I am sorry; very sorry indeed. 
Mr. Tompkins has told me all about the matter, 

and you will be glad to know that the Widow 

« 

Simmons got her lobsters. While Mr. Tompkins 
was talking with me,” said Mr. Goram, “ we no¬ 
ticed a dog acting strangely around a rock, and 
went there and found the lobsters. My wife,” 
continued Mr. Goram, “ has sent you the white 
rabbit to keep for your own.” Mr. Goram then 
took a two-covered basket from the buggy, lifted 
one cover, and showed the rabbit inside. Mr. and 
Mrs. Plummer with Josephus and Annetta and 
the Jimmies all gathered around the basket to 
look in. 

Mr. Goram was asked into the house, and there 
he held Josephus and sang him the song of John 
Dobbin, and then he took from his pocket a paste¬ 
board box and opened it. Inside lay two long 
twisted doughnuts as exactly alike as the twins 
themselves. “ My wife took pains to pick out 
two exactly alike,” said he with a chuckle. 


THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 43 


Joey Moonbeam was tied in a high-chair close 
by, and Mr. Goram talked with Annetta about her 
in such a way that Annetta ran and brought out 
Dorothy Beeswax, and Betsey Ginger, and Jenny 
Popover, and the others; and he seemed so much 
amused that Mrs. Plummer said perhaps he 
would like to hear the story of Polly Cologne. 
Then Annetta told about 
Polly, and showed him the 
boxes full of red lobster-beads 
that were waiting to be her 
necklace. 

Just as she was finishings 
her story, Mr. Goram sud- ■<$ 
denly clasped his hands to¬ 
gether and exclaimed, “ Why! 
now isn’t this strange? I saw 
a man! ” 

The people looked at him wondering what he 
meant. 

“ I certainly did meet a man — now this is strange 
enough! ” 

The people kept on looking at him. 



JOEY MOONBEAM. 


44 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Said he, “ I met a man with a rag baby in his 
buttonhole! It was about a month ago.” 

“ Where? ” cried the others with a shout. 



“ In a swamp up in our neighborhood. He had 
his hands full of things he’d been getting in the 
woods,” said Mr. Goram. 




THE ADVENTURES OF THE JIMMYJOHNS 45 

“ Just the time she was lost/’ said Mrs. Plummer. 

“ I wonder where he lives! ” cried Annetta. 

“ I don’t know/’ said Mr. Goram. “ But he is 
coming again in October to get some blue flowers 
that he said will be in bloom then on the edge of my 
pasture, and if I see him I’d just as soon ask him as 
not what became of that little Polly-Molly.” 

Mr. Goram went away soon after this, leaving 
the family in a state of high jollity. Even the neigh¬ 
bors made merry over the news as the talk went 
from house to house. “ Did you know Polly Cologne 
had been heard from? ” “ You don’t say so! ” 

“ Where? ” “ How? ” “ When? ” “ Perhaps the 
man found Rover, too! ” cried one. “ Yes! who 
knows? ” said another; and the time of the bloom¬ 
ing of blue gentians was looked forward to with 
some interest, though Mrs. Plummer said that even 
if it were Polly the man found, he might afterwards 
have lost her in the woods. But the umbrella boys 
made up their minds to look out for him when he 
should come. 


CHAPTER III. 


POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD. 

O N the night of Annetta Plummer’s birthday 
party, Susan Sugarspoon and Jenny Popover 
and Betsey Ginger reposed comfortably in the high- 
post bedstead of the baby-house, Dorothy Beeswax 
in the hammock stretched across, Eudora N. Posy 
in the crib, and Joey Moonbeam — on account of 
her great size — in a bed made up for her outside; 
but the little corn-colored china cradle with green 
rockers, alas! stood empty, for Polly Cologne lay all 
night at the bottom of a gutter, with no other cover¬ 
ing than the dewy grass which overhung the gutter. 

The next morning, by an early train from the city, 
came an oldish — not old — man with stooping 
shoulders and downcast eyes. His clothes hung 
loosely about him, he wore a soft felt hat which 
had long ago been new, and comfortable shoes. 
The downward look of his eyes was owing to his 

46 





POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD 47 


occupation of flower-hunting; for this oldish man 
was a Botanist,* and he had come out to the Land 
of Ease to find a plant which grows close to the 
ground and bears a dark pink blossom. 



NIGHT IN THE BABY HOUSE. 


This Botanist, when walking along by the side of 
a wood, happened to brush aside with his foot some 
grass which hid a gutter, and there he saw, at the 
bottom, a curious little object — in other words, 
Polly — and took it in his thumb and finger, brushed 


* One who studies plants and flowers 



















































48 


POLLY COLOGNE 


off the sand, and said to himself that it would be a 
good thing to carry to his young niece at home. As 
his hands, hat, and pockets were pretty well filled 
with flowers, leaves, roots, barks, mosses, and 
grasses, he stuck it in his buttonhole to stay till he 

could make a better place, 
then kept on through 
woods, fields, swamps, and 
lanes — hunting, picking, 
poking, clipping, digging — 
and thought no more of 
Polly until he was back in 
the city. 

In passing through the 
city streets, laden with all 
he had gathered, he won¬ 
dered why people looked 
so smilingly at him. At 
last, as two young chaps 
met and passed him near some church steps, h ; 
heard one say to the other, “ I wonder what kin j 
of a bush that buttonhole bouquet grew on? ” 

The Botanist looked at his buttonhole, stepped 



POLLY COLOGNE’S LONELY BED. 


> 




POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD 49 


upon the church steps, and with the tips of his thumb 
and finger — his hands being full — took Polly out. 
Just at that moment he saw two lady botanists car¬ 
rying large bunches of the dark pink flowers he had 
been trying to find. He rushed after these ladies, 
and in his haste dropped Polly Cologne — lost her. 

She was picked 
up by a schoolgirl 
v/ho happened then 
to be passing, Juli¬ 
ana Armstrong, a 
large rosy-cheeked 
miss of fourteen; as 
good-natured as she 
was rosy, and as 
jolly as she was 
good-natured. 

Juliana Armstrong had been on an errand for her 
cousin Luella to get some light-colored molasses in a 
three-pint tin pail. Luella had a hoarse cold which 
she wished to cure with molasses candy made of a 
particular kind of light-colored molasses, and Ju¬ 
liana had been to buy it. The grocer was out of that 



A BUTTONHOLE bouquet. 







50 


POLLY COLOGNE 


particular kind, though he was expecting a barrel, 
and Juliana was going back with the three-pint tin 
pail when she found Polly. Just for fun, she shut up 



JULIANA ARMSTRONG. 


Polly in the tin pail and sent it to Luella by an er¬ 
rand-boy, asking him to say that the grocer had none 
of that particular kind of light-colored molasses, 

















POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD 51 


though he was expecting a barrel. But the boy 
only left the pail and said nothing. 

Now when Luella saw that the boy had carried 
the three-pint pail in at the back alley, she put on a 
large apron and went to the kitchen, followed by 
her three small brothers, and got a long-handled 



LUELLA AND HER THREE BROTHERS. 


iron spoon and a saucepan. The small brothers had 
been promised tastes of the light-colored molasses. 
Luella tied on their bibs, opened the tin pail, and 
found — Polly! 

The small brothers turned their backs to the tin 
pail and cried. Not only made sounds, but cried 
































52 


POLLY COLOGNE 


tears. They wiped away the tears with their bibs. 

Luella thought it would be fun to send the present 
back to Juliana in some way, and the cook told her a 
cake would be a good way, and gave her a cake. 
They cut off the upper crust, and took out some of 
the inside, and wrapped Polly in white tissue-paper 
and put her in there. Then they fastened on the 
upper crust with two little pegs, frosted it, stuck 
some paper rosebuds in the centre, and sent the cake 
to Juliana with a message that it was a new kind of 
cake. (She might have called it a Polly-cake.) 

Juliana had her cake set upon the tea table that 
night. Some of their relatives were present, and 
the cake caused some talk among the company. 
“ What a pretty cake! ” they said. 

“ The cake was a present to Juliana,” said Mrs. 
Armstrong. “I think it will taste as well as it looks.” 

u We can make sure by trying it,” said Mr. Arm¬ 
strong. 

“ That is true,” said Mrs. Armstrong, and took 
hold of the rosebuds to remove them; but they 
stuck fast, so that when she gave a smart pull, the 
whole upper crust came off with them. 


POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD 53 

“ There is something very strange about this 
cake/’ said Mrs. Armstrong. 

“ Yes, mother/’ said Juliana. “ She sent word 
’twas of a new kind.” 

“ It has a good deal of white inside,” said Mrs. 
Armstrong. 

“ Perhaps it is a cream cake,” said Mr. Armstrong. 
“ Cream cakes have white inside.” 

“ But cream cakes are not made in loaves,” said 
Aunt Sue. 

Mrs. Armstrong touched the white middle with a 
fork, smiled, gave the fork a little turn, slowly lifted 
the white middle, slowly unrolled the paper, and 
held up — Polly! 

Everybody laughed, and Juliana cried out, “ I 
know! I know! Please may I explain? ” Juliana 
then explained, and everybody laughed more, and 
aunt Sue exclaimed with delight, “ Just look! Will 
you look? Floss-silk hair! And a locket! And 
feet! Do you see her feet? And a pink party dress! 
White gauze over pink! Well, well! Since she has 
come to a tea-party she shall have a place at the 
table! ” Aunt Sue then stood Polly in a goblet. 



54 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Polly continued her travels, and saw something of 
the world in various ways. She even travelled in a 
satin-and-bead bag — to a city dancing party! a 
brilliant and beautiful dancing party! The rooms 
were large, chandeliers glittering with light hung 
from lofty ceilings, the carpets were covered with 

white cloth, fra¬ 
grant flowers filled 
the vases, and two 
violins and a harp 
made sweet music. 

At the gay party 
Juliana quietly 
slipped Polly Co¬ 
logne into Luella’s 
pocket, and in tak¬ 
ing out her hand¬ 
kerchief, Luella 
took out and 
dropped — Polly. 

This made fun for the party. In the German , one 
of the boys came inquiring, “ Oh, where is the young 
lady who danced the drop-dance? ” He then fas- 



POLLY HAS ICE-CREAM. 






























POLLY DANCES THE GERMAN. 


55 






































POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD 57 


~r ‘ -.. ir ‘- 


tened a rosette on Polly and waltzed around the 
room with her, and then seated her on a bracket, 
and afterwards he brought her some ice-cream in 
a nut-shell! 

Polly’s education was not neglected; for did she 
not go to school rolled in white tissue paper; and 
was she not slipped by Luella into Juliana’s pocket; 
and when Juliana was 
at the blackboard, did 
she not shake Polly out 
upon the floor; and was 
not Polly kept three t 
days in the teacher’s l'^1» 
desk? Ask that teacher polly travels in a mouse-trap. 
and she will tell you. 

Polly saw the world in other ways. Rolled up in 
white paper she was sent to Luella in a mouse-trap. 
She was placed in Juliana’s hat in such a way as to 
make part of the trimming. She went to Luella in a 
pumpkin-shell which was to become a jack-o’-lan¬ 
tern for the three small brothers. She was wrapped 
in green tissue-paper and sent to Juliana in a bou¬ 
quet, her sweet face peeping up among the flowers. 




















58 


POLLY COLOGNE 


She went to Luella by express, in a wide-mouth 
bottle, and even travelled to the mountains in Ju¬ 
liana’s trunk. 

But the funniest was when Aunt Sue helped Ju¬ 
liana send her to Luella in the mouse-trap. The 
mouse-trap had a glass window, and the three small 
brothers peeped in and saw something inside, and 
called out, “ White mouse! white mouse! ” and all 
the people came, and the three small brothers 
scrambled up in chairs for fear the mouse might 
run at them. 

At last Juliana’s mother said she thought there 
had been fun enough with that rag baby, and that 
it ought to be given to some child who would be glad 
to have it to play with — “ little Mary Bunting, 
for instance.” 

“ To be sure! ” cried Juliana. “ Poor little Mary 
Bunting! But I do wish I were not too old to play 
with it myself! I should just take solid comfort.” 

At about the hour of five, one pleasant afternoon, 
any one who looked from the right window might 
have seen Juliana Armstrong walking with her 


POLLY SEES SOMETHING OF THE WORLD 59 

mother, and carrying in one hand a trunk, in the 
other a box. The trunk was packed with clothing. 

Should any wonder that Juliana was able to carry 
a trunk in one hand, they will wonder still more 
when told that the owner of the trunk lay at full 
length inside, on top of her 
clothing! For it is not a 
common custom for pas¬ 
sengers to travel inside 
their trunks. 

POLLY IS IN THIS TRUNK. 

The box which Juliana 

carried was of white pasteboard, bound with blue, 
and it contained the passenger’s best hat. The 

ii 

trunk was a doll’s trunk, and its owner was Polly, 
to whom it had been presented by Juliana, to¬ 
gether with two new calico dresses, two new bib- 
aprons, a crocheted hat, underclothing, and four 
clean pocket . handkerchiefs about as large as 
those large round peppermints you buy would 
be if they were square, which they never are; 
though why peppermints are always round and 
never square is best known to the man who 
makes them. 
















60 


POLLY COLOGNE 


The story will now go on to speak of Polly’s new 
home. It must; for if Polly had not been carried to 
that new home, she would probably never have been 
found by — a certain person; never again have re¬ 
posed in the corn-colored cradle with green rockers; 
and never have been taken out to ride in the clothes- 
basket along with Joey Moonbeam, Jenny Popover, 
Betsey Ginger, Susan Sugarspoon, Eudora N. Posy, 
and Dorothy Beeswax. 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE NEW HOME. 

J ULIANA ARMSTRONG and her mother went 
directly to Spellman’s Court, a dismal sort of 
alley, crowded with old tenement houses. They 
entered one of these houses, climbed two flights of 
stairs, walked along the passage-way, and Juliana 
knocked at the second door, while her mother went 
farther on to visit a poor washerwoman who was ill. 

n 

In answer to Juliana’s knock a faint voice inside 
said, “ Push it open. The latch is broke.” Juliana 
pushed, and in doing so pushed away a no-backed 
chair which had kept the door shut. The only occu¬ 
pant of the room was a pale, thin little girl, about 
six years old, who lay upon a straw bed. 

“ Good afternoon, little Mary,” said Juliana with 
a smile. 

“ Good afternoon,” answered the child, not with 
a smile. 


61 


62 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Small cause had little Mary to smile, cripple that 
she was, and confined always to that dingy old room 
with its bare walls, bare floor, broken furniture, 


JULIANA VISITS SPELLMAN’S COURT. 

smoky ceiling; its coal-bin in a corner and its one 
narrow window looking out upon shed-roofs, back 
yards, and back windows with clotheslines stretched 
across. She knew that for her there could be no 









THE NEW HOME 


63 


escape from this room; knew that almost every day 
her mother would go out to work and leave her there 
alone, returning perhaps late at night, sometimes so 
drunk that she could only tumble in a heap upon the 
floor, there to sleep her heavy drunken sleep; knew 
that her mother’s earnings which should have bought 
bread, often bought rum, and that she, Mary, as 
often went hungry; knew that the blow which made 
her a cripple was given her when she was a little 
child, by her own father when in a drunken frenzy; 
that he ran away from home because he was afraid 
he had killed her and might be put in prison; knew 
that many of her days and nights must be spent in 
pain, and knew that, should sleep come to her relief, 
sounds from the other rooms or from passageways 
might at any moment startle her into wakefulness 
— sounds, perhaps, from a quarrelsome family over¬ 
head, or from sickly, crying children in the room 
at the right; or sounds from a tenement across the 
back yard where lived an old Italian, who kept half 
a dozen little boys and sent them out every day with 
violins, tambourines, and accordions, to earn money 
which he kept for himself. When they earned too 


64 


POLLY COLOGNE 


little, he gave them such beatings that their shrieks 
startled even the accustomed ears of Spellman 
Court. 

Small cause had little Mary to smile. 

Juliana went 
towards the bed. 
“ Mary, do you 
remember me? ” 
she asked kindly. 

“ Yes’m,” said 
little Mary, 
though in a cold, 
lifeless way; for 
she remembered 
Juliana only as a 
high sort of be¬ 
ing, who had stepped down, so it must have seemed 
to her, from some far-off and beautiful place — a 
being in no way like the people of Spellman’s Court. 

And now she had come again, this being, this fine, 
handsome young lady, with her dainty white ruffles 
at throat and wrists, her hat gay with ribbons, and 
her clean and whole clothes of wondrous material, 



THE OLD ITALIAN AND HIS BOYS. 









THE NEW HOME 


65 


wondrously made! What could such as she want 
with a poor little child like her? 

The truth was, that in her former visit there 
with her mother, Juliana herself had some of this 
same feeling of difference. She felt, oh, very, very 
far removed from little Mary. In fact, she looked 
as far down to little Mary as little Mary looked up 
to her, and in speaking to her she spoke down. 

But Juliana was a warm-hearted girl, quick to 
see, quick to feel, and as quick to think when once 
put in the way of thinking. She was put in the way 
of thinking of these matters by seeing the distress of 
a little beggar boy when his younger sister was 
pounded by a big fellow. 

This beggar boy dropped 
his head on the doorstep 
and sobbed and sobbed, 

“ just like anybody,” as Ju¬ 
liana said when telling the 
story. She afterwards no- 

A LITTLE BROTHER. 

ticed that their washer¬ 
woman spoke of her children just as rich mothers 
spoke of theirs; spoke joyfully of the good ones, 










66 


POLLY COLOGNE 


sadly of those who were not good, and with a tremble 
in her voice of a little boy whom death had taken 
from her. She also heard the same washerwoman 
laugh as heartily at a joke as her own mother, or 
even as Aunt Sue. She tried praise on a little ragged 
boy in their back yard, and found that he was as 
much pleased at being praised as a rich boy would 
have been, as she herself would have been. “ Why, 
Mother! ” she cried, in her earnest, outspoken way, 
“ we are all alike! ” 

“ Yes, my dear/’ said her mother; “ or if not just 
alike, we are all akin.” 

In Juliana’s second visit to little Mary this feeling 
of alikeness or kinship took the uppishness from her 
tones of voice; and when she spoke to her she spoke, 
not down, not as a rich girl to a poor girl, or as a girl 
in nice clothes to a girl in ragged clothes, or as a well- 
taught girl to an ignorant girl, or as a girl living 
in a fine house to a girl living in one mean room, but 
merely as an older girl to a younger. Scarcely that. 
More as a child to child. For in presenting the gift 
to little Mary, her thoughts were full of the good 
times she herself used to have with rag babies, and 


THE NEW HOME 


67 


their clothes, and she felt almost a child again. She 
remembered how glad she would have been of such 
a present, and felt the same kind of gladness for little 
Mary. This sympathy made itself felt in the tones 
of her voice when she sat down by the bed and said, 
“ Oh, little Mary! I’ve brought you something 
• you will like! ” 

Little Mary felt it; felt the it that sounded in the 
voice, and she fixed on Juliana a strangely earnest 
look which grew more earnest as she saw, or felt, that 
same it beaming all over the good-natured face 
which looked into hers. What a face it was — that 
other, little Mary’s — so pale, so pinched, so old! 
She had sandy brown hair, and it hung stiff and 
straight down below her ears, and she wore a faded 
calico nightgown. 

Juliana raised her in bed, propped her up with an 
old quilt, and when she seemed easy showed her the 
trunk, and then with a small key, the very smallest 
mite of a key, unlocked it, and opened it, and lifted 
the cloth which covered Polly; lifted it slowly, 
slowly, showing first the floss-silk hair, then the 
pink and smiling face, then the locket, then the bib 



68 


POLLY COLOGNE 


apron with pockets, then the dotted muslin frock 
made over pink, until at last the bits of feet were in 
plain sight. Little Mary did not speak; but as the 
cloth was slowly raised, the color came more and 
more into her face, her eyes grew brighter and 
brighter, and upon seeing Polly taken out and made 
to stand against the trunk, she almost smiled. Then * 


she reached her 
hand towards 
her, and glanced 
up at Juliana, as 
if to ask, “ May 
I? ” 



“ Oh, yes ! ” 
sai d Jul iana. 


MARY ALMOST SMILES. 


“ Take her. She is yours to keep; your own.” 
Which was not true, as we know. We know that 
Polly belonged to Annetta Plummer, and that her 
real home was in the Land of Ease in Annetta Plum¬ 
mer's baby-house, with Joey Moonbeam and those 
others. 

Little Mary took Polly, touched the floss hair 
with the tip of her forefinger, then touched the face, 










THE NEW HOME 


69 


then the locket, then the feet. She seemed pleased 
with the feet. Presently she looked towards the 
trunk. 

“ Her other clothes are in the trunk/’ said 
Juliana. “ If I were you, I would let her wear those 
every day, and keep these nice.” Mary touched the 
top dress with the tip of her finger, and looked up 
at Juliana as if to ask again, “ May I? ” 

“ Yes, indeed! ” cried Juliana. “ They are all 
her clothes. Ethelinda’s. I have named her Ethel- 
inda.” (What would Annetta Plummer have said 
to hear Polly Cologne called Ethelinda?) 

Little Mary took out all the things, one by one, 
even to the handkerchiefs and a knit hood, each 
time looking up to Juliana to ask with her eyes, 
“ May I? ” 

While she was doing this, Juliana took more par¬ 
ticular notice of some bits of calico which were 
pasted upon the wall at the side of the bed. She 
saw that each one had a flower on it. There were 
forget-me-nots, a poppy, a tulip, a rose, a morning- 
glory, and other flowers of kinds not known to Ju¬ 
liana, or perhaps to anybody. 


70 


POLLY COLOGNE 


These pieces of calico came to little Mary in a 
curious way. As Juliana wrote in her letter to Aunt 
Sue, you might take twenty guesses, and not guess 
this way. 

Juliana had been telling, in the letter, of Polly’s 
new home, and describing the room and her own 
visit there. 

“ And, Aunt Sue,” she wrote, “ you may have 
twenty guesses, forty, yes, fifty, and with all these 
you will not guess the way by which those pieces of 
calico came to little Mary. They were not carried 
up the stairs; they came in no person’s hat, bon¬ 
net, hand, hands, pocket or pockets; in no box or 
boxes, bag or bags, basket or baskets, bundle or 
bundles, trunk or trunks, or anywhere about any 
person or any person’s clothes. They were not 
carried there by any person at all, or by any animal. 
Neither man, woman, child, dog, cat, rat, nor mouse 
carried those things to little Mary’s room. They 
came through the air. Yet they did not fall down 
the chimney — how could they when the stove-pipe 
had an elbow to it? — they were not brought by 
birds, or blown in at the window by the winds. They 


THE NEW HOME 


71 


did not come on the tail of a kite, nor in a balloon, 
nor fall from the moon. 

“ The secret may as well be told now as at any 
time; though, after all, it is no secret. They were 
sent across on a clothesline from the back of an old 
wooden house on the next street; the house where 
an Italian lives, an old Italian who keeps boys and 



THE VOYAGE OF THE FLOWERY CALICOES. 


makes them earn money for him by playing on vio¬ 
lins and other instruments. The line is double, and 
it runs on two rollers, one at Mrs. Bunting’s window 
and the other on the back of the house in the next 
street, so that anybody at the Italian’s window, if 
he tries hard, can fasten any small thing on one of 
the lines and then pull at the other till the thing 























72 


POLLY COLOGNE 


is pulled across to Mrs. Bunting’s window, and 
then Mrs. Bunting can take it in and give it to Mary. 

“ No secret; no, indeed! How can it be a secret, 
up there in the air with perhaps the old apple- 
woman looking out of one window, and a news¬ 
paper boy at another, and the rag-man from an¬ 
other, and washerwomen hanging out clothes on 
house-tops and shed-roofs? 

“ And now I’ll tell you about the calicoes. I have 
told you how pleased little Mary was with Ethel- 
inda. Not that she said much. Indeed, she hardly 
spoke except to ask now and then, ‘ What’s that? ’ 

“ As I sat there by the bed, watching her poor 
thin fingers folding away the little dresses, some one 
pushed open the door of the room. I turned my 
head, and there, standing in the doorway, was a 
shabby-looking, slender little fellow with the cutest 
face you ever saw. Cute is just the word. Rather 
sharp features, and oh, what snapping black eyes! 
And all round the edge of his cap his hair, black hair, 
stood out in short curls. He seemed about eight 
years old, though small of his age, and he carried 
a violin. Mary looked pleased at seeing him. 


THE NEW HOME 


73 



‘ That’s Tink,’ said she. Then added, ‘ He can 
stand on his head.’ I can’t tell you all the story in 
this letter, Aunt Sue, but I found out from Tink 
that his whole name 


<■# 


is Tinkler, and that he 
is one of the little mu¬ 
sicians kept by the old 
Italian. I will tell you 
the whole story some¬ 
time. Once when he 
was sick, Mrs. Bunt¬ 
ing, a kind-enough 
woman when she is 
not drunk, went round 
and did kind things for 
him. There is a rag¬ 
man living in the 
house with the Italian, 
and this Tinkler, or 
Tink, who is as spry as 
a monkey, climbs up 

by a water-spout with bright bits of calico the rag¬ 
man lets him pick out from among his rags, and 


“that’s tink!” 









74 


POLLY COLOGNE 




sends them across to Mrs. Bunting’s window for 
Mary. Sometimes he comes around and stands on 
his head for her, and plays for her; but this seldom 
happens, for he lives in mortal fear of the old 
Italian. He seems to have no other name than 

Tinkler, and I sup¬ 
pose he got even 
that from his busi¬ 
ness of fiddling. 
Sometimes he sends, 
bits of glass on the 
line. 

“ Tink stood on 
his head for me, and 
played me a tune, 
and I gave him two 
ten-cent pieces so 
that he could dare 
to stay longer, and showed him the trunk of clothes 
and the rag doll; and then I sat and told those two 
children all about her, how I found her on the side¬ 
walk, and sent her to Luella in the tin pail which 
did not have molasses in it, and how she came back 







































THE NEW HOME 


75 



in a cake, and afterwards went to a party and was 
chosen for a partner, and had ice-cream brought her 
in a nut-shell, and how she went to school and other 
places; and oh, you ought to have seen those chil¬ 
dren’s faces! Tink’s 
bright and shining and 
earnest, and all over 
smiles—I think I shall 
add a name and call 
him Tinkler Tickle — 
and little Mary’s, 
lighted up, too, and 
earnest, but not a bit 
sparkling, just quiet; 
pleased and quiet. At 
the places where 
Tink’s face would 

tink’s comrades. 

break into a broad 

laugh, hers would only show a glow of color, with 
perhaps a faint smile. 

“ At the end Tink said, ‘ I guess somebody lost 
it.’ I said that should the owner come we would 
give it back to her, but that it was not likely an 



76 


POLLY COLOGNE 


owner would come. By the way, I wonder if some 
child is not mourning the loss of Ethelinda, for she 
is really a pretty little thing. Of course her true 
name is not Ethelinda. I wonder if she had a name, 
and what it was, and where she belongs, and if any 

little child was sorry to 
lose her. Rag babies 
ought always to have 
cards hung around their 
necks, telling their names 
and where they belong, 
so that when lost they 
can be sent home. 

“ Don’t you think it is 
singular, Aunt Sue, that 
from all the bits of calico 
she should pick out only 
those with flowers on 
them? I asked Tink, and he told me she threw away 
all the other pieces. I don’t suppose she ever saw a 
real flower, or even grass, or trees, or bushes; hardly 
the sky, though you can see from her window a small 
bit of blue, or of gray, just as may happen. Some- 



TINK STANDS ON HIS HEAD. 














THE NEW HOME 


77 


times she is bolstered up at this window, so Tink told 
me, and he makes faces at her from across the back 
yard, or hangs out of his window for her amusement. 
I dare say she would be delighted with even a com¬ 
mon daisy or butter¬ 
cup; and if you can 
send me in a few, 

I should like to 
carry them to her, 
just for the pleasure 
of seeing how she 
will look at them.” 

Juliana herself 
did not know the 
whole story. If she 
could only have 
been told the begin¬ 
ning of it, how gladly would she have taken the first 
train, and popped down among them there at the 



TINK APPRECIATES POLLY. 


Plummers’ and surprised them all with, “ Here she 
is, Annetta! Don’t look any more for her, you dear 
little Jimmyjohns! ” But at that time Juliana had 
never heard of such a place as the Land of Ease. 




















CHAPTER V. 



U 


A LETTER FROM SOME¬ 


WHERE. 




I 


i 


T will be remem¬ 
bered, no doubt, how 
the Jimmyjohns made the acquaint¬ 
ance of Mr. Jabez Goram, the old 
gentleman, and that this Mr. Goram 
had met an unknown man with what was supposed 
to be Polly Cologne in his buttonhole, and that the 
unknown man had said he should come there again 
in the time of the blooming of Blue Gentians. It 
will also be remembered that the Funny Man had 
offered a reward of a jackknife to the finder of Polly 
Cologne, and that members of the Plummer family, 
and the neighbors, and boys in need of jackknives 
were looking forward to the time of the blooming of 
the Blue Gentians, hoping then to see the unknown 
man whom Mr. Goram had met, with what was 

78 


A LETTER FROM “ SOMEWHERE ” 


79 


supposed to be Polly Cologne in his buttonhole, and 
learn from him what had become of her. We know 
that this unknown man was the Botanist, and that 
he dropped Polly in the street, and also a great deal 
about her. 

Just about two weeks after the Jimmyjohns had 
their adventure with Mr. Jabez Goram, the old gen¬ 
tleman, the Plummer family met with a surprise. 

It happened 
while they were as¬ 
sembled at break¬ 
fast, Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer, slim, pink¬ 
cheeked M! r S . BROUGHT BY THE EXPRESSMAN. 

Plummer, was in 

her place at the head of the table, Josephus in his 
high chair close by her. At one side of the table sat 
Annetta, also Effie with her arm-basket hung on the 
back of her chair; on the other side were the Jimmy¬ 
johns, and Mr. Plummer sat opposite Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer. Joey Moonbeam, having lately had a new 
head, with new eyes, nose, and mouth, had been 
placed upon the mantelpiece to keep her out of the 








80 


POLLY COLOGNE 


way of harm — that is to say, of Effie and Josephus. 
The family were nearly through breakfast. Jo¬ 
sephus had begun to throw his bread upon the floor; 
the Jimmies, the sirup-cup between them, were 

looking anxiously 
at the few re¬ 
maining flapjacks, 
when there came a 
thundering knock 
at the door. 

“ Who can it be, 
so early in the 
morning? ” asked 
Mrs. Plummer. 

“ It must be the 
man who’s to help 
me get in the 
onions,” said Mr. 
Plummer. 

“ It is the expressman, Father, I can see his 
wagon,” said Annetta. 

“ Mother, are you expecting a bundle? ” asked 
Mr. Plummer. 



THE PLUMMERS HEAR FROM ROVER. 





















































































A LETTER FROM “ SOMEWHERE ” 


81 


“ No, indeed! ” said Mrs. Plummer. 

Mr. Plummer went to the door and came back 
with a letter. “ Here is a letter/’ he said, “ directed 
to two of us.” 

“ To you and me? ” asked Mrs. Plummer. “ Per¬ 
haps we are invited to a party.” 

“ Not at all,” said Mr. Plummer. “ This letter 
is directed to ‘ Jimmyjohns Plummer, Land of 
Ease.’ ” 

“ Who sent the letter? ” asked Mrs. Plummer, 
putting Josephus on the floor, and giving him the 
napkin rings and some spoons. 

“ I do not know,” said Mr. Plummer, “ and the ex¬ 
pressman did not know. He said it was dropped into 
the letter-box of his office 
up at the Crossings.” 

“ A good way to find 
out who sent a letter,” 
said Mrs. Plummer, “ is 

. ON ACCOUNT OF A WOODCHUCK. 

to open it. 

“ Yes! Open it! Open it! ” cried Annetta and 
the Jimmyjohns. 

Mr. Plummer opened the letter: “ It is a very long 



82 


POLLY COLOGNE 


letter/’ said he, “ and it is dated f Somewhere! We 
know one thing, at least. It came from somewhere. 
Now let us see if there is a name at the bottom. 
Yes, there is,” said Mr. Plummer, smiling upon the 
children, “ a name you will be glad to hear. This 
letter is signed, ‘ Rover Plummer 7 ” 

“ Rover? ” “ Why! ” “ What! ” a Oh! ” 

“ Goody, goody! ” “ Let me see! ” were the ex¬ 
clamations. The Jimmies scrambled upon their 
father’s shoulders, Annetta stood on a cricket, even 
Mrs. Plummer went in haste to look at the letter, 
stumbling over Effie, who had stooped to pick up her 
arm-basket. Meanwhile Josephus, having raised 
himself to his feet by a chair, was reaching up and 
putting in his mouth what had been left on his 
mother’s plate. 

a We are glad to hear from Rover,” said Mrs. 
Plummer, catching Josephus in her arms. “ What 
does he say for himself? ” 

“ There comes the man to help me about the 
onions,” said Mr. Plummer. “ But I must stop to 
see what Rover has to say.” 

Mr. Plummer then read aloud, as follows: 


A LETTER FROM “ SOMEWHERE ” 


83 


“ My Dear Jimmyjohns: 



I was very sorry to be carried away from you. 
It was chiefly on account of a woodchuck. That day 
when A n n e 11 a 
gave me Polly Co¬ 
logne’s bib apron 
and said, ‘ Go find 
her! Don’t come 
back till you find 
her!’ I went 
straight towards 
the woods, and 
near the edge of 
the woods I saw a 
woodchuck, and I 
flew at him, and 
caught him by the 
neck, and shook 
him; but his skin 
was thick, and he 
got his teeth into 
me and made me 
squeal and let go, 
but I kept barking 
and jumping at 
him, and I tried to 
jump at him from 
behind, but he sat 
in one spot, turn¬ 
ing round and 


NED, 


THOUGH SLEEPY, GOES 
RELIEF. 


TO ROVER’S 






84 


POLLY COLOGNE 


round and round, so as to be always facing me, and 
every time I caught him by the neck, and shook him, 
he bit right through my skin and made me squeal 
and let go. 

“Two boys named Ned and Gus came there and 
called me ‘ Towser,’ and kept saying, ‘ At him Tow- 
ser! At him! Shake him! ’ and I stayed there run¬ 
ning round and round that woodchuck, over two 
hours; barking steady all the time — though some¬ 
times I jumped at him — and he sitting on one spot, 
turning round and round and round so as to face me, 
and I shook him three times, but had to let go, for he 
bit through my skin and made me squeal, and the 
last two times he made the blood come, and the 
last time he made me squeal so loud the boys said he 
would kill me, and one of them took me up and car¬ 
ried me off to a big carriage with four horses, which 
had many people in it. That other boy went too, 
and they got into that carriage and we rode away 
seven miles, to Rockville. 

“ The boy named Ned wanted to keep me for his 
own, and the boy named Gus wanted to. Gus said 
he would sell his part of me for Ned’s sailboat, and 
Ned said he would give his sailboat for Gus’s part 
of me, so Ned had me. He took me to a big house 
where men and women and children were staying, 
and shut me up in the cellar, and left some meat 
there. I ate the meat, and kept quiet — perhaps I 
went to sleep — but in the night I howled to go 
home. I howled a very long time. A cross man 
came down there, saying cross words. He was just 





A LETTER FROM “ SOMEWHERE ” 

going to let me out — and then I should have scam¬ 
pered home — but Ned heard him and came down 
there and said, 4 Don’t! Don’t! Don’t let that dog 
out! I’ll take him away! ’ 

“ Ned carried me up stairs and took me into bed 
with him, and stroked me, and I kept still, but in the 
morning I wanted to go home. He led me outdoors 
by a string. I jerked the string out of his hand and 
ran; but Gus, that other boy, was ahead of me, and 
he jumped on the 



string with both his 
feet, and then he 
caught me. Gus and 
Ned were going off 
in a boat, so they 
tied me in Gus’s 


WHAT PREVENTED ROVER FROM GOING 

HOME. 


back yard. There was nobody at home in Gus’s 
house. Gus and Ned were coming back at noon¬ 
time, but their boat went aground and stuck in the 
mud, and they had to stay there many hours, waiting 
for the tide to come. Somebody in another back 
yard threw me a bone, but that was not enough. I 
was hungry, I jumped and jumped, and I bit my 
string and bit it, so that it broke, and I crawled 
through a small hole and got out into the street, and 
ran as fast as I could. Some boys tried to catch me, 
and I ran faster, and the two places where the wood¬ 
chuck bit me had begun to bleed, because I rubbed 
them, squeezing through that small hole — there 
was some marks of them left around that hole — 
and the faster I ran the louder the boys shouted, 



86 


POLLY COLOGNE 


and the more people ran, and at last somebody 
called out ( Mad dog!. Mad dog! ’ 

“ Then children began to scream, and some of 
them tumbled down, running, and a man cried, 
‘ Shoot him! 7 and a big man shot me in the leg and 
I dropped down, and the big man was going to 
knock me in the head and kill me, when a young 
sailor stepped up and said, ‘ That dog is no more mad 
than I am! Give him to me! 7 Gus and Ned came 
there pretty soon; and Ned said, ‘ That 7 s my dog, but 
I don’t want him any more now his leg is broken. 7 

“ Then Ned, and Gus, and all the people went 
away, and the sailor carried me to a doctor, and the 
doctor set my leg, and before it got quite well the 
sailor took me off to sea with him in a big vessel, and 

you must think of me 
as sailing far away 
over the sea to the land 
where oranges grow. 

“ Give my love to 
Josephus, and the cat, 
and Annetta and Ef- 
fie, and Joey Moon¬ 
beam, and to Betsey 
Ginger, and all her sis¬ 
ters, and to Polly Cologne if you have found her. 

“ Your affectionate dog, ^ ^ 

to7 Rover Plummer . 77 

The letter was ended. Everybody drew a long 
breath. Nobody spoke, nobody knew what to say. 



ROVER STILL STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY. 














GOOD SAMARITANS. 


87 








































































A LETTER FROM “ SOMEWHERE ” 


89 


The Jimmies slid down from their father’s shoul- 
ders and stood, open-mouthed, looking up in 
his face. 

“ If we only knew the name of the vessel,” said 
Mrs. Plummer, “ we might ask some person in Rock¬ 
ville to be on the lookout for him. There’s Mr. 
Tompkins’s daughter Nancy. She’d be just the one.” 

“ Here is a line below the letter,” said Mr. Plum¬ 
mer. “ It says: ‘ Written for Rover Plummer 
by Somebody, of Somewhere’ 

“ Indeed! ” said Mrs. Plummer. “ Now we know 

a great deal! Suppose 



THE EXCITEMENT ROVER CAUSED. 




































90 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ I am afraid the postmaster would send it to No¬ 
body of Nowhere/’ said Mr. Plummer. 

“ Perhaps if we ask the expressman to put it up 
in plain sight in his office at the Crossings,” said 
Mrs. Plummer, “ the person who dropped the letter 
there may see ours.” 

It was decided, after further talk, that as Annetta 
could print pretty well she should print a short let¬ 
ter, the Jimmyjohns telling her what to say. 

Mr. Plummer then went to his work, Annetta 
helped her mother with the dishes, and as soon as 
these were well out of the way she printed: 

“ Dear Somebody: 

“ What is the name of that vessel? We are sorry 
that woodchuck bit Rover. Thank you.” 

• 

The last two words were thought of by Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer. The letter was directed to “ Somebody, Some¬ 
where,” and given the expressman to be left in sight 
in his office. 

The readers of this story are now to be taken into 
the secret, and be told that Somebody of Somewhere 
was none other than the Lobster Man’s daughter 


A LETTER FROM “ SOMEWHERE ” 91 

Nancy Tompkins, commonly called Natsey because 
her father’s name was Nat, and she, his only child, 
had been used to following him about out doors as 
if she had been a boy. Natsey was small and thin 
and dark, but she was bright as a button and spry 
as a cambric needle, so the neighbors said. 

Natsey Tompkins went to school in Rockville and 
boarded there with her grandmother. She knew 
Gus and Ned, and 
knew that they found 
their little dog at the 
Land of Ease, not far 
from Mr. Plummer’s, 
and she herself saw 
the dog chased by the 
crowd, and saw him 
shot. When Natsey 
came home on her va¬ 
cation she inquired of 
her father about the Jimmyjohns, and he told her 
the story of the loss of Polly Cologne and of Rover. 
He told her what kind of a dog Rover was, and by his 
description, and from the fact that the boys found 



ROVER MUSES CONCERNING HIS NATIVE 
LAND. 










92 


POLLY COLOGNE 


their dog not far from Mr. Plummer’s, she knew 
that Rover and that dog were the same dog. 

Both Natsey and her father were acquainted with 
the sailor who took Rover to sea. His name was 
Benny Bennett, and he was one of the crew of the 
Flying Scud; and Natsey declared that as soon as 
ever the Flying Scud should arrive she would see 
Benny Bennett, and perhaps get Rover and surprise 
the Jimmyjohns. Meantime she would have a little 
fun with them. She charged her father not to tell, 
though there was no need of this, for Mr. Tompkins 
himself wanted the fun of surprising the Jimmy¬ 
johns. 

It was wholly owing to Mr. Tompkins that Natsey 
got the letter Annetta printed for the Jimmyjohns. 
Mr. Tompkins went to the express office to send 
some lobsters to his wife’s mother in Rockville — 
Natsey’s grandmother — and saw the letter; and 
knowing to whom it belonged he took it, unbe¬ 
known to anybody; so that when Mr. Plummer 
asked the expressman what had become of it, he said 
he could not think where it had gone, but probably 
it had gone to Somebody, Somewhere. 




A CHILLY DAY IN SPELLMAN’S COURT. 


CHAPTER VI. 

Spellman’s court. 

T T was a dull day in the little room at Spellman’s 
Court. The bit of sky to be seen from the nar¬ 
row window was overspread with gloom, and a chilly 
mist filled the air. 

Mrs. Bunting had done her washing before going 
out to work, and had hung her clothes on lines across 


93 

















94 


POLLY COLOGNE 


the room. Little Mary, bolstered up in bed, was 
playing with Ethelinda, as she called Polly Cologne. 
What a comfort that small pet had been to her! She 
dressed and undressed it, and talked to it as if it 
were a live baby. When from other rooms came the 
cries of children beaten by brutal fathers or mothers, 
little Mary would stroke Polly, and press her to her 
bosom, as if saying, “ They sha’n’t hurt you! No¬ 
body shall hurt you! ” Whenever Tink sent a new 
bit of flower-calico across the line, she always showed 
it to Polly before having it pasted upon the wall, and 
often tried it on her for a shawl, or an apron. 

Tink took great interest in Polly, though he dared 
not come often, for he feared his master, the old 
Italian. Sometimes, when there with his fiddle, he 
tied one end of a string around her waist, and the 
other end to his elbow, and passed the string over 
the clothesline in the room so that with every mo¬ 
tion of his arm in fiddling she danced up and down. 

He had been doing this on the dull day just 
spoken of, and had just given Polly back to little 
Mary, when he heard his master’s voice in the pas¬ 
sage below, and with a quick motion hid himself 


SPELLMAN’S COURT 


95 


behind a large tub which stood leaning against the 
wall. Scarcely was he out of sight before the door 
was shoved open, and a dark face scowled at little 
Mary over the clotheslines, and a rough voice called: 
“ Tink, you rascal! Are you here? ” 

Tink did not 
find it convenient 
to reply; and the 
man, after peer¬ 
ing behind the 
wet clothes, 
slammed the door 
and went stamp¬ 
ing down-stairs. 

The door did not 
latch; the latch 
was broken. 

“ Tink! ” said 
little Mary in a 
loud whisper. 

“ He’s gone! ” 

Tink prudently waited five minutes and more, 
and at the end of those minutes there came a 



MRS. BUNTING. 



















96 


POLLY COLOGNE 


gentle tap at the door and Juliana Armstrong 
entered. 

“ How do you do, little Mary? ” she said in a 
cheery tone. “ My mother has come to see a sick 
woman on this floor, and I wished to come with her 
and see you a little while.” 

“ Yes, ma’am/’ said little Mary; and Juliana, by 
stooping under some of the wet things and turning 
aside others, found her way to the bed. 

“ Only think,” she said, writing to Aunt Sue, “ of 
that sick child having those wet clothes hanging 
around her! It was only by moving a piece of old 
blanket that dripped on the floor by the bed that I 
got a place to sit down there. I was hoping to see 
Tink, and glanced around the room behind the old 
petticoats and wash-aprons, and faded-out things, 
and ragged ends of blankets, thinking he might be 
somewhere about. This was my fourth visit, and I 
had not seen him since my first one, and I wanted 
to see him again. 

“ There seemed no chance of this, so I talked 
awhile with little Mary about Ethelinda, and looked 
over the trunk of clothes; and then I began opening 


SPELLMAN’S COURT 


97 


my box to show the rose. It was the very loveliest 
flower of my birthday bouquet, a perfectly beauti¬ 
ful Bon Silene rose. Oh, the color of it! The rich, 
delicate, sea-shell pink! Aunt Sue, imagine that 
child’s face! So far as I had learned, never in her 
life before had she seen a real flower; not even a but¬ 
tercup, or a dandelion, or any field-flower: their 
names were all strange 
to her. And oh, her face 
that day! First she 
looked hard at the rose, 
then, catching its fra¬ 
grance, she bent towards 
it, and it seemed as if she 
was searching out the 
very heart of it. She 
drew a long breath; it 

. POLLY DANCES. 

was more a sigh than a 

breath; and when she looked up at me in that shy, 
inquiring way, as she always does when examining 
anything I have brought her, I could see that her 
eyes were moist, and I won’t say but that my own 



were. 






98 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ But now, Aunt Sue, I have something unpleas¬ 
ant to tell you. While I was rinsing out a med¬ 
icine-bottle to put the rose in water, I happened to 
turn my eyes towards a large tub which leaned 
against the wall, and saw that the tub moved. Pres¬ 
ently it tipped forward, and there appeared above it 
slowly, first something thick and black, like a mat, 
then a pair of shiny eyes, then a nose and mouth, 
and finally the whole figure of Tink. The mat was 
his curly hair. Little Mary explained by saying, 
‘Tink hided.’ 

“ Tink came forward, fiddle in hand. Little Mary 
looked at him, then at the rose, then at him, as 
much as to say, ‘ Do you see? ’ He gazed steadily 
at the rose for a moment, then began to play. Not 
a lively tune like what he played the other time 
I saw him, but something soft and slow. It seemed 
just as if it were the rose which made him play so. 
Do you suppose it could have been? 

“ Now comes the unpleasant part. Oh, Aunt Sue, 
it is worse than unpleasant! While Tink stood 
there playing, the door was suddenly kicked open, 
and a man came in; oh, the ugliest-looking man I 


SPELLMAN’S COURT 


99 


ever saw! He strode across, breaking down the 
clothesline, seized Tink by the arm and — oh, Aunt 
Sue! I can’t bear to tell you, but that poor boy was 
dragged out, and I could hear his head strike against 
the walls of the entry-way and hear the blows, and 
hear his screams. O dear, isn’t 



it dreadful? And he has more 
boys besides Tink. Boys he has 
picked up. Nobody’s children, 


my mother says — that is — no¬ 
body’s to take care of. And 
there are more of them in the 
city, she says. Their fathers 
and mothers are dead, or in jail, 
or have run away, or have cast 
off their children. And she says 
that some other poor children 
are just as much abused as these 


are — their fathers and mothers 


“TINK, YOU RASCAL l” 


are so brutal, and so often drunk. 

O dear, dear! And to think, Aunt Sue, that while 
I could not keep from crying, little Mary never shed 
a tear! She only turned paler, and clutched Ethe- 


) ■> > 


9 





























100 


POLLY COLOGNE 


linda tight in her hand. It shocked me to think of 
her being so used to such things. 

“ But I will leave this now, and speak of some¬ 
thing pleasant. Aunt Sue, I wish that the next time 

you come in town 
you would bring a 
great many flowers; 
all kinds, garden or 
wild. I want them 
for little Mary; and 
I will meet you at 
the station and take 
them, and then you 
will have all your 
hands to do your 
shopping with; 

JULIANA MAKES HER WAY THROUGH THE thOUgh perllUpS yOU 
WET STREETS. mi 

will go with me 

to Spellman’s Court. I wish you would.” 

Aunt Sue brought the great many flowers, as 
requested, and her bringing them led to some¬ 
thing curious which will be found quite interesting 
to hear. 
































SPELLMAN’S COURT 


101 


Juliana Armstrong met Aunt Sue — a lively 
young woman of thirty or so — and took some of 
the flowers and the shopping-bag. Among the 
flowers was some golden-rod. 

It will be remembered that 
Polly Cologne was found by a 
Botanist near the Land of 
Ease, was dropped by him on 
the sidewalk of a city street, 
near the steps of a church, and 
was soon afterwards picked up by Juliana Arm¬ 
strong — then on her way home from the grocer’s 
where she had been to buy some light-colored mo- 



A PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL 
BON SILENE ROSE ! ” 


lasses. Now, as Aunt Sue and Juliana were passing 
along this same street, they met an oldish man, who 
at seeing their flowers suddenly stopped and spoke 
to Aunt Sue: 

“ I beg pardon, madam, but will you have the 
goodness to allow me to examine that spray of 
golden-rod? I think it is a variety I have never 
been able to find.” 

This man was the Botanist. 

“ Take it, sir, by all means,” said Aunt Sue. 



102 


POLLY COLOGNE 


u 


Take any of these. We are carrying them to a 
poor child in Spellman’s Court, and a few less won’t 
matter much.” 

“ I see you are interested in flowers,” said the 
Botanist, pleasantly; “ and if you will step round 
to my house I will give you, in exchange for this 
golden-rod, a magnificent branch of wild asters, 

purple with brown 
middles. I got an 
armful of these and 
white ones yester¬ 
day in riding with 
a friend through a 
little country place 
called by the curi¬ 
ous name of the 
Land of Ease.” 

“ I have heard of 
the place,” said Aunt Sue, as she and Juliana walked 
on with the Botanist. “ A cousin of mine lives 
within a few miles of it. She says it is the place of 
places for wild flowers.” 

“ It is glorious at this time of year,” said the 



“then, a pair of shiny eyes.” 


















SPELLMAN’S COURT 


103 


Botanist. “ People talk of tapestry carpets and 
Persian patterns. If they want to see carpets, let 
them ride through the Land of Ease. You seem to 
be passing through never-ending intermingling of 



nobody’s children. 


colors. All over the pastures and wayside banks 
are the purple and browns and greens of the grasses, 
purple asters, white asters, yellow-white everlasting, 
red rosehips, blue succory, and the gold of the 
golden-rod everywhere. One large rolling pasture 
in particular has wonderful masses of color. An 
































104 


POLLY COLOGNE 


odd man, an umbrella-mender, lives there in a sort 
of hut which has an old umbrella on it for a sign.” 

“ I think I have heard my cousin speak of him,” 
said Aunt Sue. “ Doesn’t he take sick animals to 
cure? and isn’t he a famous story-teller? ” 

“ Yes; both,” said the Botanist. “ He told us a 
remarkable story of a remarkable horse he had. I 
hope to see him again, soon,” added the Botanist. 
“ Blue gentians grow not far from there, and it is 
almost time for them.” 

“ My cousin makes it a point to ride in that direc¬ 
tion in the time of blue gentians,” said Aunt Sue. 

It will be seen by this conversation between Aunt 
Sue and the Botanist, that he had actually met and 
talked with the Funny Man, though the Funny 
Man, of course, had no idea he was talking with the 
man whom Mr. Jabez Goram had seen with what 
was supposed to be Polly Cologne in his buttonhole. 
Neither had Juliana Armstrong any idea she was 
talking with the person who dropped Ethelinda, as 
she had named her, nor had the Botanist any idea 
he was walking with the person who picked up the 
rag-doll he found in the Land of Ease. 


SPELLMAN’S COURT 


105 


After Aunt Sue and Juliana had got the asters 
from the Botanist’s house, they went directly to 
Spellman’s Court. As they came near and into the 
court, they were followed by little children asking 
for flowers. Pitiful little children they were: pale¬ 
cheeked, ragged, dirty, some sickly, others sore¬ 
eyed, wearing odds and ends of clothing, nearly all of 
them barefoot and 
barelegged. Aunt Sue 
and Juliana gave them 
each one flower. Sev¬ 
eral of them asked for 
one to take home to 
“ my sister,” or “ my 
bruvver.” 

“ I shall have to 
bring a clothes-basket 
full,” said Aunt Sue, 
as they passed up the stairs to little Mary Bunting’s 
room. Mrs. Bunting herself was there, a tired, 
overworked-looking woman; civil-spoken enough 
and kind to little Mary, as was her custom when she 
had not been drinking. She seemed to think it all 



AUNT SUE. 



106 


POLLY COLOGNE 


very well that they brought the flowers, but was 
not over-pleased. No doubt she would have pre¬ 
ferred money or food. 

Little Mary was over-pleased; too much pleased. 
As the brilliant show was spread before her — dah¬ 
lias, geraniums, verbenas, heliotrope, asters, golden- 
rod, rose hips — her thin hands trembled with the 
excitement of the pleasure. 

“ Don’t you see, ma’am, it is too much for her? ” 
said Mrs. Bunting. 

“ Suppose we put them in water,” said Aunt 
Sue. 

Mrs. Bunting found a rusty pail, and Aunt Sue 
packed the flowers into it. While she was doing this 
Juliana talked with little Mary. 

“ You don’t see Tink, now? ” she said. 

“ No, ma’am,” said little Mary. 

“ Do you know,” said Juliana, “ I see him quite 
often? He has found out our house, and comes 
near there to play to two families of children living 
opposite us, and sometimes I send him on errands 
and pay him money for going.” 

Little Mary seemed pleased to hear this. 




SPELLMAN’S COURT 


107 


Juliana then talked some with little Mary, and 
looked at Ethelinda and all her clothes, and at the 
flower-calicoes on the wall, and talked some with 
Mrs. Bunting. 

In passing out of the Court on their way home, 
Aunt Sue said to Juliana: 

“ I’ll tell you, Juliana, what will be a capital thing 
to do. I’ll get Father, when he drives in with his 
big wagon, to bring a bushel of pears and apples, and 
a host of flowers, and me. We will call for you; and 
we’ll bring the things to little 
Mary’s room, and invite there 
all these miserable little chil¬ 
dren, and — and — what shall 
we do besides give them the 
pears and apples and flowers? ” 

“ Perhaps tell them stories,” 
said Juliana. “ You can tell 
them the Double-wheeled 
Wheelbarrow story, and I can 
tell them — why I can show them Ethelinda, and 
tell them her story, how she was sent back and forth 
in a cake, and in a bouquet, and in a mouse-trap, and 



ONE TO TAKE HOME. 












108 


POLLY COLOGNE 


in a pumpkin-shell. Little Mary and Tink were 
pleased with that story.” 

“ Oh, we must have Tink to the party! ” said 
Aunt Sue. “ I have never seen Tink. I want to see 
him.” 


“ I don’t believe he will dare come,” said Juliana. 

“ But if we pay him for fiddling to us,” said Aunt 
Sue, “ he will come.” 

“ Perhaps,” said Juliana. “ At any rate, I shall 
have chances enough to talk with him about it. He 

often does our errands. 
He is good to send on 
errands; he is so quick 
and bright.” 

One kind of errand 
on which Juliana after¬ 
wards sent Tink pleased him so much that, when 
asked to go, his eyes shone like beads, and his face 
was all over one big smile. This errand was to the 
Botanist’s to get a flower for little Mary. Juliana 
met the Botanist several times after the day when 
Aunt Sue exchanged flowers with him; and he al¬ 
ways bowed politely, and once when he had flowers 



A GIFT FOR LITTLE MARY. 


SPELLMAN’S COURT 


109 


in his hand he gave her some, and when she said she 
should take them to a sick child in Spellman’s Court 
who was pleased with flowers, he told her to send 
to his house whenever she wanted any to take to 
the child, as he always had flowers of some kind 
about the house, or in his conservatory. 

So whenever Juliana was planning to go with her 
mother to Spellman’s Court, if Tink was anywhere 
near, as he often was, she sent him to the Botanist’s 
for a flower. 


CHAPTER VII. 


JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMY JOHNS. 

O NE sunny morning in October, little Effie 
Plummer went early to spend the day at 
Aunt Emily’s. Soon after dinner a girl stopped at 
Mrs. Plummer’s to say, from Aunt Emily, that Ef¬ 
fie was in need of playthings, and to ask if Annetta 
would not let the Jimmyjohns bring over Joey 
Moonbeam and all her family. Annetta said yes; 
and it was decided that they should go as pas¬ 
sengers in the air-chariot, namely, a clothes- 
basket long since given over to the use of the 
children. 

Annetta put newspapers in the bottom of the 
chariot, in order that the smaller ones should not 
fall through the holes; and when it was ready all 
the rag-babies, in their best hats and sacks, were 
carefully placed therein, Joey Moonbeam being fas¬ 
tened back with a string, as, on account of her great 

no 


JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 111 

size, she was likely to pitch forward. On the right 
of her and left of her were Dorothy Beeswax, 
Betsey Ginger, Jenny Popover, Susan Sugarspoon, 
and Eudora N. Posy, seated in due order — 
and a pretty sight they 
were; though Annetta 
sighed at seeing the 
vacant place where 
should have been dear 
little Polly Cologne. 

The Jimmyjohns 
took hold each by a 
handle, and set off 
at a brisk trot, An¬ 
netta watching them 
out of sight. 

Aunt Emily’s was nearly half a mile off, but all 
would have gone well had they turned aside from 
water. Instead of turning aside from water, they 
turned aside to water; and although they did not 
splash through puddles, they splashed at the edges 
of them, and also of the brook; and it happened 
that while splashing at the edge of the brook they 



LITTLE EFFIE PLUMMER. 








112 


POLLY COLOGNE 


pulled upon the handles so hard that one, the one 
held by Johnny, came out. Luckily, Joey Moon¬ 
beam had been tied near the handle held by Jimmy, 
so she remained high and dry, but the others fell 
in. The brook was not a swift brook, nor a deep 
one, and they lay there on the sandy bottom, easy 
to take. The Jimmies, however, only stood and 
bellowed and looked towards some young girls who 
were picking wild plums on the brook, further 
down, just below Mr. Tompkins’ house. One of 

these was Nat- 
sey Tompkins; 
and she, seeing 
and hearing that 
something was 
the matter up by 
the bridge, ran up 
to inquire. 

“ Don’t cry! 
Don’t cry! ” she 
exclaimed. “ Why, Jimmyjohns! Where were you 
going with all this family? ” And she began pick¬ 
ing them up. 



THE AIR CHARIOT. 






JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 113 



“ To Aunt Emily’s/’ they said. “ Effie wants 
them. Dorothy Beeswax’s hat’s gone down the 
brook/’ added Jimmy in alarm, as Dorothy came 
up, bareheaded, from the water. 

“ I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” said Natsey. “ Effie 
won’t want these wet ones. YT>u can carry 
Joey Moonbeam to Effie, and I will take all 
these to my house 
and dry them 
and iron out their 
clothes, and I 
will crochet a hat 
for Dorothy Bees¬ 
wax quick as a 
grasshopper,” said 
she; “ and I’ll put 
a rope handle to 
the basket, and 
you can call for 
them on the way 

1 l )) KIND-HEARTED NATSEY* 

DclCK. 

The Jimmies little thought that something of the 
same kind would have to be done for themselves be- 









114 


POLLY COLOGNE 


fore the end of the day — but that comes farther 
on in the story. Hearing what Natsey said, they 
brightened up, took each a hand of Joey Moonbeam, 
and thus holding her between them went on their 
way to Aunt Emily’s. 

It may as well be told at once that they did not 
arrive at Aunt Emily’s at all. The cause, or the 
beginning of the cause, was this: After they had left 
Natsey and had walked on some distance, they 
heard steps behind them, and on looking around 
saw the Funny Man coming with an umbrella under 
his arm, and leading a slow old horse, large, lean, 
and a little lame; a horse known in the place by the 
name of Activity. The Funny Man was taking 
care of him for a few weeks, and was then leading 
him out for exercise. The Funny Man stopped as 
he came alongside the boys, and turned up the cor¬ 
ners of their frocks to see the flannel peppermints 
on the linings. 

“ Oh, yes,” said he: “ blue peppermints, Jimmy, 
red ones, Johnny. Is your little girl going to school? ” 

The Jimmies looked up with a shy smile, and 
said it wasn’t a girl, it was Joey Moonbeam, and 



JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 115 


a 


a 


that they were carrying her to Aunt Emily’s be¬ 
cause Effie wanted her. 

“ Don’t you want to take a ride horseback? ” he 
asked. 

Yes, sir! ” they answered, quickly. 

I am going up towards the Cliff neighborhood,” 
said he, “ and if you can hold on, you may have a 
ride, and we’ll come back by way of Aunt Emily’s.” 

“ Yes, sir,” they 
cried again; and he 
set them up one be¬ 
hind the other; and 
as they needed both 
hands to hold on 
with, he himself took 
Joey Moonbeam. 

“ Now, Activity! ” said he, and the horse slowly 
put himself in motion, the boys bent low and held 
tight, and the Funny Man trudged on at the side 
with Joey Moonbeam. 

As they drew near the Cliff neighborhood, the 
Funny Man stopped at an unpainted, low-roofed 
house, tied the horse to a fence, took down the Jim- 



“ ACTIVITY.” 







116 


POLLY COLOGNE 


mies, and said they could wait there outside for him. 
He had come to visit an umbrella so valuable that 
it could not be risked out of the house; an umbrella 



which had been kept there as a precious relic nearly 
a hundred years; for it was an umbrella which some 
great-grandfather of the family had once held over 
the head of George Washington. It was a very large 







JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 117 


m 


green umbrella; faded, of course, with a stout ivory 
handle ending in a dog’s head, and strong ribs tipped 
with ivory. Some pieces of the inside works had 
rusted off, and these were to be repaired. 

Finding that the job was likely to 
be a long one, the Funny Man came 
to the door and pointed to a house not 
quite a quarter of a mile off, and said 
to the Jimmies, “ Don’t you want to 
go and ask Mr. Goram about the gen¬ 
tian flowers? If they’ve blossomed, 
we want to be on the lookout for the 
man that’s coming to get them; the 
man that carried off Polly Cologne in 
his buttonhole. Yonder’s Mr. Goram’s 
house. If you want to go, I’ll stop 
there for you.” 

Anything was better to them than keeping still; 
so they took Joey Moonbeam, as before, and set 
forth on the same jolly trot for Mr. Goram’s. 

In passing Widow Simmons’* house they saw that 


THE HISTORIC 
UMBRELLA. 


* It will be remembered that the Jimmies were once sent with lobsters 
to Widow Simmons’, and that on account of meeting with Mr. Jabez 
Goram, the old gentleman, they did not reach her house. 







118 


POLLY COLOGNE 


some horse-chestnuts had dropped from a tree in 
front, and Jimmy ran round to the back door to ask 
if they might pick them up. Johnny, meanwhile, 
put Joey Moonbeam in a good place and stood ready 
to begin to pick up, when the front door was opened 

by a plump, good-natured 
looking woman — Widow 
Simmons. 

Widow Simmons was 
one of that kind of women 
who never see a small 
child without wanting to 
give it something. 
“ Sonny,” she asked, 
“don’t you want a 
peach? ” 

“Yes, ma’am! ” cried 
Johnny, eagerly. 

“You just wait till I 
pick out a good mellow one,” said she, and went in. 
Johnny sat down on the doorstep to wait. 

Now when Widow Simmons had picked out a 
good mellow one, she happened to spy Jimmy from 



THE WIDOW SIMMONS, 


















































JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 119 

the back window; and thinking he was the same 
boy she had spoken to, said to him, “ There, sonny, 
come get it. Be sure and don’t swallow the stone! ” 
After taking the gift so suddenly presented, 
Jimmy felt bashful about asking for the horse- 
chestnuts; so he ran round to give Johnny a bit of 
his peach. 

“ The woman’s going to give me a whole one,” 
said Johnny. “ Can we pick up horse-chestnuts? ” 
“ I didn’t want to ask her,” said Jimmy. 

“ There’s another horse-chestnut tree! ” cried 
Johnny, pointing down a field. “ You go there, and 
I’ll come when I get my peach.” 

Jimmy ran on, and Johnny waited for his peach; 
waited long, waited very long. At last he went 
round to the back of the house and sat on a log, think¬ 
ing the woman might see him. The woman did see 
him. She came to the door and said, “ What you 
waiting for, sonny? ” 

He said, “ Peach.” 

“ Oh, no,” said the woman, “ I can’t give you 
another. It might make you sick.” And she closed 
the door. He was too bashful to go in and say he 


120 


POLLY COLOGNE 


had not had the peach, and without waiting longer 
he went round to the front, took Joey, ran along the 
road and down into the field. Jimmy had long since 
filled his pockets and had put some in a pile for 
Johnny. 

There was now only a meadow between them and 
Mr. Goram’s orchard; and as this was the shortest 
way, they started with Joey to cross the meadow. 
They knew it was a boggy meadow, but did not know 
it was so boggy as it was. They thought that if their 
feet did sink in they could pull them out again; but 
in the middle their feet went in so deep that they 
could not pull them out, but sank in deeper and 
deeper. All they could do was to stand still and 
hold Joey Moonbeam high up. 

Mr. Goram’s wife — that tall, slim old lady who 
once had the influenza, you will remember — saw 
them from the window and called to Mr. Goram, 
“ Mr. Goram! Mr. Goram! There are two chil¬ 
dren in the bog! They are holding something 
between them; it seems to be some sort of a 
fowl. They are screaming: you’ll have to help 
them.” 



JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 121 

By this time the boys were in above their knees. 
Mr. Goram ran to the place and laid down some 
rails, and walked on the rails, and lifted out the Jim¬ 
mies. “ I am always willing to lift little boys out,” 
said he. “ You are the same little Jimmyjohns, so 
you are! Pray what young woman is this, little 
boys? ” 

“ Joey Moon¬ 
beam,” they an¬ 
swered, sobbing. 

“ Ah, yes,” said 
Mr. Goram. “ I 
saw her at your 
house. But come 
with me and get 

IT SEEMS TO BE SOME SORT OF A FOWL. 

dried, and tell me 

all about it.” And Mr. Goram led them to his 
house. 

“ Why, you poor little dears! ” cried Mrs. Goram, 
“ you’re a sight to behold! It is no use trying to 
dry their clothes on them,” she said to her husband. 
“ The best thing I can do is to cover them over on 
my bed with a quilt or something, and let them stay 












122 


POLLY COLOGNE 


there while I wash the mud off their clothes and get 
them dried to put on.” 

The Jimmies were not pleased with this; but the 
sight of two thick squares of gingerbread, and Mrs. 
Goram’s motherly ways, and the feeling of wetness 
soon made them willing; and by the time the 
Funny Man stopped there with old Activity, the 
clothes were out drying on the line, the shoes at 
the stove, and the boys with a patchwork quilt about 


them were lying on 
Mrs. Goram’s four- 
post bed watching the 
flies walk over the 
cracks on the ceiling, 
while Joey Moonbeam 
sat stiff against one of 
the foot-posts. The 
Funny Man went as 
far as the bedroom 
door, and when he saw 
them he said noth- 



THE FUNNY MAN LAUGHS SOFTLY. 


ing. He lifted his hat a little, scratched his head, 
leaned his forehead against the doorway so that 
















JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 123 

his face was turned to the outside, and laughed 
softly. 

He could not wait, and Mr. Goram said there was 
a coach-party in the neighborhood from Rockville, 
who were going back towards night by way of the 
Land of Ease, and that he would send the boys by 
the coach. “ By the way,” added Mr. Goram, 
speaking to the Jimmies, 

“ you must tell your sister 
Annetta that the blue flowers 
that man spoke of have begun 
to bloom. I picked two to¬ 
day.” 

The clothes were ready 

just in time; and when the EACH WITH A BLUE GEN- 

coach came the Jimmies took 

Joey and ran out, each with a blue gentian in 
his hat, placed there by kind Mrs. Goram. There 
was no room inside, and even the driver’s seat 
was full; but he put the boys just above him where 
they could sit on the top of the coach and rest 
their feet on his seat. Some of the passengers 
laughed at Joey Moonbeam, and this made the 




124 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Jimmies sit so close that they almost hid her from 
sight. 

After tea that night, when Mrs. Plummer and 
Annetta were clearing off the table, Natsey Tomp¬ 
kins called at the house in passing, to learn why the 
Jimmyjohns had not come to her house for Dorothy 
Beeswax and the others; and finding they had not 
returned from Aunt Emily’s, she told all about the 
coming out of the handle of the air-chariot, and 
what happened to the passengers. “ But they’re 
as good as new now,” said she to Annetta, “ and 
Dorothy Beeswax’s hat just fits her.” 

Natsey had scarcely finished her story before 
Aunt Emily came with Effie. “ We have been ex¬ 
pecting the Jimmyjohns with Joey Moonbeam and 
all her tribe,” said Aunt Emily. 

“ You had Joey Moonbeam and the Jimmyjohns, 
Aunt Emily,” said Annetta. 

“No,” said Aunt Emily, “ we have not seen any 
one of the three. But I heard, just now, that the 
boys were seen on old Activity, with the Umbrella 
Man.” 

“ Oh, if they are with Mr. Doty, they are safe,” 


JOEY MOONBEAM AND THE JIMMYJOHNS 125 

said Mrs. Plummer; “ but who can be coming here 
in the coach? ” 

The coach had driven near the house and stopped. 
“ Why, there are the Jimmyjohns and Joey Moon¬ 
beam! Away up top! ” cried Annetta. 

“ Tip-top passengers! ” cried Natsey; and the 
whole company ran to the door. 

The tip-top passengers were taken down, and the 
Jimmies were rapidly questioned; but being slow to 
tell, Mrs. Plummer had got the work done up and 
had begun to undress Josephus before they finished 
their adventures. 

“ So you did not get your peach, Jimmy,” she said, 

7 

speaking to one of the boys. 

“ That isn’t Jimmy! I’m Jimmy! ” cried the 
other boy. But when he turned up the corner of his 
frock and saw the red flannel peppermints, he looked 
puzzled, and for a moment seemed hardly to know 
himself, whether he was Jimmy or Johnny. 

Mrs. Goram in her haste, had dressed them in 
each other’s clothes, and Mrs. Plummer, not look¬ 
ing closely, had called the one Jimmy who had the 
blue dotted neck-tie. 


126 


POLLY COLOGNE 


This mistake, of course, made great merriment; 
and in the midst of the fun Natsey spied the flowers 
in the hats, withered and faded then. 

“ Blue gentians! ” she cried. “ I’m glad to see 
them! Now we must watch for that man when he 
comes to get some. Perhaps he will come to-mor¬ 
row. And I am almost sure,” said she, laughing 
at her own thoughts, “ that before many days you 
will hear something from Rover.” 

It may be well to state here, that the Jimmyjohns 
went to .Natsey Tompkins’ next morning and 
brought home Joey Moonbeam’s family; also, that 
what Natsey said came true: Before many days they 
did hear something from Rover. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR. 

F there had been no ifs in the way, one part of 
this story might come to end end at once. If, 
when Juliana and Aunt Sue exchanged with the 
Botanist golden-rod for asters, /'/Juliana had known 
then that he was the person who dropped Polly on 
the sidewalk near the church, and if the Botanist had 
known that Juliana picked up Polly from the side¬ 
walk near the church, no doubt they would have 
spoken to each other of the matter; and if Juliana 
had known that Annetta 
was the owner of Polly 
and wished for her back, 
she would no doubt have 
made little Mary Bunt- 

A FAIR EXCHANGE. 

ing another rag baby and 

have sent Polly post-haste to the Land of Ease: 
then the Polly-part of this story would be done, 

127 




128 


POLLY COLOGNE 


and there would be only the Rover-part left to 
tell. 

Even the Rover-part would be worth hearing, 
however, as any one would say who had read the 
letter written home by the sailor who carried Rover 
to sea; for the sailor told all about the doings of 
Rover, and of a monkey which was on board the 
ship. The sailor’s mother, after talking with Nat- 
sey Tompkins, wrote some verses from Rover and 
sent them by express to the Jimmyjohns just as 
Natsey sent them her letter from Rover. The verses 
were spoken at a pleasant little affair which took 
place in the Plummers’ barn. 

All the readers of this story will like to know how 
the affair began, and especially how it ended. It 
began in this way: One morning Natsey Tompkins 
called at the Plummers to bring back Dorothy Bees¬ 
wax’s hat, the one which was lost in the brook when 
Joey Moonbeam’s family fell out of the clothes- 
basket-chariot. It got caught by a stump, and 
Natsey picked it out and put it in shape and brought 
it back to Annetta. 

As Natsey sat by the window telling them about 


A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


129 


the hat, the Funny Man came that way with a 
basketful of boxes of bayberry tallow. “ Oh, 
there’s Mr. Doty! ” cried Natsey. “ I must run 
out and hear what he is saying to the Jimmy- 
johns.” 

The Funny Man was feeling in all his pockets, as 
usual, for something to give the Jimmies, but found, 
as usual, nothing 
more than a bit of 
chalk and a piece 
of spruce gum 
done up in an oak 
leaf. He pre¬ 
sented these gifts 
to the Jimmies 
with a sober face, 
and they took 
them with sober 
faces. He then asked them, “ Why don’t you have 
a Mutual? ” and told them that his folks had Mu¬ 
tuals. He said that every one did something; that 
the hens cackled and the rooster crowed and old 
Activity whinnied, and if there was a cow there she 



THE MUTUAL AT THE FUNNY MAN’S. 




130 


POLLY COLOGNE 


moo-ed. Said he, “ Go ask your mother if you can 
have one in the barn! ” 

The Jimmies, dressed in their carpenter’s suits of 
blue overalls and paper caps, had been trying to 
shingle a barrel; but they threw down hammer and 

nails and ran to ask 
their mother. Nat- 
sey followed to ex¬ 
plain what was 
meant by a “ moo- 
chooral,” as they 
called it. “ Do say 
yes,” cried Natsey, 
“ for then we will 
make Mr. Doty tell 

THE JIMMIES IN THEIR CARPENTER SUITS. 

his ant-hill story.” 

“ Yes,” said Mrs. Plummer; and away ran the 
Jimmies with Natsey and Annetta to tell the Funny 
Man, who by that time was far along the road, for 
he had only talked for the sake of saying something. 
Natsey would not let him off so. She ran and caught 
him, and tried to make him promise to be on the spot 
at two in the afternoon, but he only laughed. 




A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


131 


Natsey talked with Mrs. Plummer as to what 
should be done by the children; and Mrs. Plummer 
said that while she was doing up her work she would 
keep Effie with her and teach her 
to repeat a verse of poetry about 
the blue gentian, and Natsey 
said she would bring a stalk of 
blue gentian for her to hold. 

Natsey came back soon after 
dinner, and found Annetta and 
Effie and the carpenter-Jimmies 
waiting in the barn. Three or 
four neighborhood boys were on 
the fence, also waiting. 

It was a small barn. There 
was a pile of pumpkins in one 
corner, and Natsey set all the 
boys at work moving half of 
these to the opposite corner. 

A low platform was made be¬ 
tween the two piles of pumpkins, by laying some 
boards on boxes and stools. 

Mrs. Plummer told Natsey that Mr. Plummer 



HER PIECE. 







132 


POLLY COLOGNE 


had helped Annetta make a verse to speak. “ But 
what can I do myself? ” asked Mrs. Plummer. 

“ You might do this/’ said Natsey: “ you might 
tell something about every one of your children 
when they were little. For my part, I shall recite a 
short piece from The Farmer’s Own Book ” 

Joey Moonbeam and her family were brought out 
and given reserved seats in a cheese-box, on the right 
of the platform. The Jimmies also had reserved 
seats in a little blue sleigh which was their father’s 
when he was a boy. The runners and thills were 
gone, but the top was good, and the seat gave them 
just room to sit side by side. Josephus had a re¬ 
served seat in a firkin, though of 
course he could only stand in it; . 
and Mrs. Plummer sat near him 
on a pile of corn-husks with Nat¬ 
sey and Annetta and Effie. The 
three or four neighborhood boys 
josephus- reserved sat opposite, on such seats as they 
seat. could find. The Funny Man did 

come, and he stood in the doorway, watching the 
others and laughing softly. 





A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


133 


Mrs. Plummer was the one who spoke first. She 
told something about the babyhood of each of her 
children. Annetta was the first baby, and every¬ 
thing she did was thought wonderful. Her first 
tooth was found by being hit with Mrs. Plummer’s 
thimble. Mrs. Plummer thought it was so wonder¬ 
ful that a baby should have a tooth, that she called 
Mr. Plummer in from his work, and Grandma Plum¬ 
mer from up-stairs, and word was sent to all the 
near relatives. When the Jimmyjohns were babies, 
she had to mark 
their clothes in or¬ 
der to tell which had 
been fed last. 

When they were 
old enough to creep, 

Jimmy crept on his 
hands and knees and Johnny sat up and got over 
the floor by hitches. One went about as fast as the 
other. Sometimes people used to roll things across 
the floor, in order to see them race for them, each 
going after his own fashion. When Effie was twenty 
months old she used to get her bonnet and say, 





WHEN THE JIMMYJOHNS WERE BABIES. 






134 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Wammy! Wammy! ” meaning that she wanted 
to go to her grandma’s. Mrs. Plummer would say, 
“ Ask the cat to go to Wammy’s.” Then Effie would 
stoop down and take the cat by the back of the neck, 
turn its face up close to her own and say, as fast as 
she could speak, “ Duddle duddle duddle duddle 
da! ” One night, in the night, when Josephus was 
eight months and a half old, he woke his mother by 
fretting. His mother was not fully awake, but she 
lifted him higher on his pillow and covered him over, 
and tucked the clothes in, and began patting him. 
By the time she was fully awake she found that 
there was a mistake; that his feet were on the pil¬ 
low and his head was away down under the bed¬ 
clothes. 

Just as Mrs. Plummer stepped off the platform, 
Natsey’s father, Mr. Tompkins, came hurrying into 
the barn. Mr. Tompkins said he had heard there 
was to be a good time, and that he never liked to miss 
a good time, even if it were a small good time. Nat- 
sey said he would have to do something, and Mrs. 
Plummer said he could tell about selling lobsters, 
and could begin at once. 


A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


135 


Little Mr. Tompkins took off his hat, went to the 
platform, and spoke in his short quick way, as fol¬ 
lows: “ Ladies and gentlemen, If you want to find 
out what kind of people people are, sell lobsters to 
them. Some people will pick out the best ones in 
the wheelbarrow and then beat down the price. 
One woman engaged four lob¬ 



sters, and I kept them for her, 
but her company were hindered 
from coming and she would not 
take the lobsters. But another 
woman engaged seven for a big 
party. She was taken sick and 
gave up having the party, but 
she sent me the money for the 
lobsters because she had en¬ 
gaged them and she would not 
go back on her word. Some 
people are square as a brick, al¬ 
ways right up to the mark. If 


THE LOBSTER MAN RE¬ 


LATES HIS EXPERIENCE. 


they fall short a cent at one time, they make it up 
the next time. Mr. Goram is a man of this kind. 
If I say, ‘ Oh, never mind the cent,’ he says, ‘ Yes, 



136 


POLLY COLOGNE 


yes! Right is right. I don’t want a single copper 
that isn’t my own.’ But some always like to get 
something in that way. They seem mightily pleased 
when they have not change enough by one copper 
and I say, ‘ Oh, never mind.’ They act as if they’d 
had a present. There is one man manages so often 
to come short for change that I — I don’t know 
what to say about him; but I know what to think. 
Then some don’t pay. One man has been owing 
me twenty-two cents ever since a year ago last 
month; and there are others owing me small sums 
under twenty-five cents. They know I won’t dun 
them for a few cents. I have even had a lobster 
brought back and the money asked for, because the 
buyer had something else sent him for dinner. Oh, 
there’s nothing like lobster-selling for finding out 
what kind of people people are! ” 

While Mr. Tompkins was telling these things, the 
Funny Man said, “ Shame! ” several times, and 
every time he said it, the Jimmyjohns and the three 
or four neighborhood boys said it. 

Next after Mr. Tompkins, came Annetta, with a 
verse her father helped her make; 



A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


137 


“ Once we had a Polly and a Rover, 

But now they’re gone, and that’s all over; 

My father says that both these two 
Are just the same, and he’ll prove it true — 

For he says if you will but think it over, 

That Polly herself is now a rover.” 

“ True! true! ” cried the Funny Man; and the 
Jimmyjohns and the three or four neighborhood 
boys said it after him. 

Joey Moonbeam and her family were excused 
from doing anything, because they were all deaf 
and dumb. Josephus, of course, did not go on to 
the platform. He merely stood where he was and 
told what the sheep says and what the dog says. 
He went no farther in the animals, for there was so 
much laughing and clapping that he himself began 
to clap and to shout, and would do nothing else. 
Mr. Tompkins gave him some lobster-feelers he had 
brought for Annetta to make into necklaces for 
Polly Cologne when she should be found; and when 
Josephus and the others were quiet, Natsey recited 
the piece from The Farmer's Own Book. It was 
about tough beefsteak. It said that the reason beef¬ 
steak was tough was that cattle did not chew the 


138 


POLLY COLOGNE 


grass as they ought to, or as long as they ought to; 
and showed that this was true, and how cattle might 
be made to do better. 

The Jimmyjohns then went to the platform and 
took off their paper caps, and then standing hand in 
hand repeated together these verses which had come 
from the mother of the Rockville sailor who carried 
Rover to sea. (No one there but Natsey knew who 

sent the verses.) These are the verses: 

’ 

“ A letter from Rover; bow-wow and bow-wow! 

O’er the ocean a rover; bow-wow and bow-wow! 

Blow low, or blow high, o’er the ocean sail I, 

To come home by and by, and bow-wow and 
bow-wow! 

There’s a monkey here, too; bow-wow and bow¬ 
wow! 

Which made me with fright to bow-wow and 
bow-wow! 

We began with a fight, and he gave me a bite, 

Which made me with fright bow-wow and bow¬ 
wow! 

Now we love one another; bow-wow and bow¬ 
wow! 

And sleep by each other; bow-wow and bow¬ 
wow! 


A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


139 


He chatters away, as together we play, 

But all I can say, is, bow-wow and bow-wow! ” 

They came out pretty nearly together in ending 
each verse, excepting that Jimmy would be one 
“ bow-wow ” behind Johnny, so that instead of two 
“ bow-wows ” at the end there were three. 

When the Jimmies had taken 
their seats Effie stood on the plat¬ 
form holding in her hand a stalk 
of blue gentian, and repeated these 
lines from Bryant’s poem, To the 
Blue Gentian , though of course she 
could not speak all the words 
plainly: 

“ Thou blossom bright with au¬ 
tumn dew, 

And colored with the heaven’s effie speaks her 
own blue, PIECE - 

Thou comest not when violets lean 

O’er wandering brooks and springs unseen. 

Thou waitest late and com’st alone, 

When woods are bare and birds are flown. 

Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye 
Look through its fringes to the sky.” 




140 


POLLY COLOGNE 


The next thing was the Funny Man’s little Ant¬ 
hill Story. It was the story that was little, not the 
ant-hill, nor the ants; for the ants were large and 
the hill was a yard high and nearly four yards round. 
The monkeys of the story had their true names, 
which were funny ones to hear. The story was as 
follows: 

“ The Wanderoo said to the Entellus, ‘ The Man- 
gabey is ill and wishes for ants to eat: do you know 
where there is an ant-hill? ’ The Entellus said, ‘ I 
do not, but I will inquire.’ Then the Entellus asked 
of the Hoolock, ‘ Do you know where there is an 
ant-hill? ’ The Hoolock said, ‘ I do not, but I will 
inquire.’ Then the Hoolock asked of the Simpai, 
‘ Do you know where there is an ant-hill? ’ The 
Simpai said, ‘ I do not, but I will inquire.’ Then the 
Simpai asked of the Malbrouk, ‘ Do you know where 
there is an ant-hill? ’ The Malbrouk said, ‘ I do not, 
but I will inquire.’ Then the Malbrouk asked of 
the Guenon, ‘ Do you know where there’s an ant¬ 
hill? ’ The Guenon said, ‘ I do not, but I will in¬ 
quire.’ Then the Guenon asked of the Done, ‘ Do 
you know where there is an ant-hill? ’ The Done 


A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


141 


said, ‘ I do not, but I will inquire.’ Then the Done 
said to the Chacma, 1 Do you know where there is 
an ant-hill ? ’ The Chacma said, ‘ I do not, but I will 
inquire.’ Then the Chacma asked of the Drill, ‘ Do 
you know where there is an ant-hill? ’ The Drill 
said, ‘ I do not, but I will inquire. Then the Drill 
asked of the Mandril, ‘ Do you know where there 
is an ant-hill? ’ The Mandril said, ‘ I do not, but 
I will inquire.’ Then the Mandril asked of the long¬ 
tailed Cercocebus, c Do you know where there is an 
ant-hill? ’ The long-tailed Cercocebus said, ‘ Yes; 
near yonder tall palm.’ ‘ Near yonder tall palm,’ 
said the Mandril to the Drill. ‘ Near yonder tall 
palm,’ said the Drill to the Chacma. ‘ Near yonder 
tall palm,’ said the Chacma to the Done. ‘ Near 
yonder tall palm,’ said the Done to the Guenon. 
‘ Near yonder tall palm,’ said the Guenon to the 
Malbrouk. ‘ Near yonder tall palm,’ said the Mal- 
brouk to the Simpai. ‘ Near yonder tall palm,’ said 
the Simpai to the Hoolock. ‘ Near yonder tall 
palm,’ said the Hoolock to the Entellus. ‘ Near 
yonder tall palm,’ said the Entellus to the Wan- 
deroo. 


142 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Then the Wanderoo, and the Entellus, and the 
Hoolock, and the Simpai, and the Malbrouk, and 
the Guenon, and the Done, and the Chacma, and 
the Drill, and the Mandril, and the long-tailed Cer- 
cocebus helped to carry the Mangabey to the ant¬ 
hill, and laid their paws on the ant-hill, and the 
Mangabey licked from all these paws the ants which 
crawled on to the paws from the ant-hill, and was 
not ill any more.” 

Just as the Funny Man began his story, Mr. Plum¬ 
mer drove up to the barn-door with more pumpkins, 
and he sat on the load and heard the story. He then 
came inside and was commanded 
to do something, no matter what, 
and was taken to the platform 
by Annetta and the Jimmies. 

Mr. Plummer showed how far he 
could jump square-foot, and told 
how far he could jump square- 
foot when he was a boy. The 
little Lobster Man said he 
could jump square-foot from one pile of pumpkins 
to the other. 



MR. PLUMMER JUMPS 
SQUARE FOOT. 



A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


143 


“ Do it! do it! Let’s see you do it! ” cried 
the boys; whereupon Mr. Tompkins stood at one 
pile and began jumping across by short jumps. 
A tremendous shout arose. “No! no! no fair 
jumping that way! ” and Mr. Tompkins ran 
back to his place so swiftly that he almost 
stepped on the Jimmyjohns’ rabbit. The rab¬ 
bit had not been asked to do anything, but 
he came jumping out from some corner, in his 
rabbit kind of square-foot, and made everybody 
laugh. 

Natsey said the neighborhood boys ought to do 
something and that they might each show how far 
he could jump square-foot, and each make a bow 
before and after his jump. 

While this was going on the sound of wheels was 
heard, and presently a new-comer walked in. He 
was a large fleshy man with frizzly gray hair and 
rosy cheeks, and he wore a felt hat; a black one. It 
was Mr. Goram; Mr. Jabez Goram, the old gentle¬ 
man. Mr. Goram bowed to the company and asked, 
“ Is it a party? ” 

“ No, sir,” said Mr. Plummer; “ it is a Mutual. 


144 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Every one is expected to do something to entertain 
the company.” 

“ Perhaps Mr. Goram will tell us a story,” said 
Mrs. Plummer. 

Mr. Goram smiled, walked slowly to the platform, 
took off his hat, and said, in his gentle manner, “ I 



IN PURSUIT OF THE BLUE GENTIAN MAN. 


have something to tell which will please the little 
boys — and the little girls. I like to please little 
boys and little girls. This will please you all. The 
man I saw once with the rag-doll in his buttonhole 
has come to get the gentian flowers. I saw him not 
ten minutes ago by the swamp in Mr. Perry’s 
pasture.” 

Mr. Goram had hardly spoken the words before 



A PLEASANT LITTLE AFFAIR 


145 


the three or four neighborhood boys were out of the 
barn, with the Jimmies after them. Natsey and 
Annetta soon followed. The Funny Man and Mr. 
Tompkins stood in the doorway, laughing and 
watching the runners, and presently they all walked 
away in the same direction. 


CHAPTER IX. 


HUNTING A BOTANIST. 

N ATSEY TOMPKINS wrote a letter to the 
mother of the Rockville sailor who carried 
Rover to sea, and told her about the little affair in 
Mr. Plummer’s barn, and how Mr. Goram brought 
it suddenly to an end, and what happened after that. 
“ Your verses about Rover,” wrote Natsey, “ were 
well spoken by the dear little Jimmyjohns, and the 
children had a good time, and so had the grown 
folks. But I wish you could have seen the scamper¬ 
ing when Mr. Goram told us the man had come 
for blue gentians and that he saw him go into 
Mr. Perry’s swamp. The Jimmyjohns and the 
other boys hopped out of the barn like so many 
grasshoppers. Annetta wanted to go, and I went 
and took her along, and my father came and 
Mr. Doty came — the one the children call the 
Funny Man. 


146 


HUNTING A BOTANIST 


147 


“ Women opened their front doors to ask what 
was the matter; and when they had heard, went 
back laughing. There has been so much fun about 
Polly Cologne, and about the Jimmyjohns going 
here and there to find her, and about the jackknife 
reward, and about the man Mr. Goram saw with a 
rag-doll in his button¬ 
hole that even grown 
folks are interested in 
these matters. 

“ When we arrived at 
the swamp we found the 
boys standing outside. 

They did not know 
whether to go in and find 
the Man, or watch for 
him to come out at one 
of the paths. My father 
said that whichever path 
the Man had taken he 
would have to come out by the same, on account of a 
deep bog-hole in the middle. One boy said there was 
a board across that bog-hole, another boy said some- 










148 


POLLY COLOGNE 


body stole that board but there were stepping- 
stones ; and a third boy said the stepping-stones had 
sunk down. At last it was settled that the boys 
should watch, one at each path; and I know you 
would have laughed to see how earnest the little fel¬ 
lows were, and to see Mr. Doty look at them in his 
droll way, half sober, half laughing. 

“ Annetta and I were on a hill at the west side of 
the swamp, where that big rock is, you remember, 
and I went and stood on the rock; for I never go near 
a rock but that I want to stand on it. As I straight¬ 
ened myself up to take a look around, I saw a man 
at some distance off, travelling across a pasture in 
the direction of Mr. Doty’s little house — the one 
I showed you, with the umbrella on it for a 
sign. He had his hands full of what seemed to be 
plants and flowers, and he now and then stopped to 
look among the bushes, or to break off a stalk of 
something. 

“ ‘ Why, why, why! ’ said I. 1 1 do believe our 
man has got away! Look there! ’ 

“ ‘ I see him,’ said Father. ‘ He’s a stranger in 
these parts.’ 



HUNTING A BOTANIST 


149 


“ ‘ He must have gone out of the swamp before we 
came/ said I. 

“ The word went from boy to boy, and soon the 
whole crowd were collected on the rock or around 
it, to see the Man. He passed Mr. Doty’s house and 



AT THE SWAMP. 


went on towards Goram’s woods, which are some 
distance beyond Mr. Doty’s. 

“ ‘ Let’s go! ’ shouted the boys; and away they 

ran. 

“ ‘ Jimmyjohns! ’ called Annetta, 1 you mustn’t 
go! ’Tis too far! ’ 







150 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ The Jimmies began to cry. Mr. Doty told them 
he would go and take them horseback. We laughed 
at the idea of those three upon Activity, though to 
be sure there’s room enough on his back for three in 
a row, and more; and though he is lean, his bones 
are strong enough. 

“ Mr. Doty took the Jimmies, one by each hand, 
and strode off at such a rate that with all their trot¬ 
ting they could hardly keep up. My father said he 
would stay and watch for the Man at a place he 
would have to pass in going to the station. He said 
the Man would probably go back to the city in the 
six o’clock train, as there is no train later than that. 
Annetta and I thought we would go on as far as 
Mr. Doty’s house and wait there, and play with his 
cats; so we ran and caught up with him and the 
Jimmies — poor little trotters! 

“ ‘ Oh, Mr. Doty! ’ cried Annetta as we came near 
his place, ‘ Activity’s calling to you! ’ And sure 
enough, there was Activity, his long neck stretched 
over the paling, whinnying his how-d'ye-do , and 
you would have been pleased to see how affection¬ 
ately he laid his nose upon Mr. Doty’s shoulder. Mr. 



HUNTING A BOTANIST 


151 


Doty got upon his back, with one delighted Jimmy- 
john behind, and the other delighted Jimmyjohn 
before, both smiling, of course; and when the will¬ 
ing animal was fairly set in motion he walked off at 
quite a jog, and Mr. Doty’s funny-sober face was a 
sight to see. How he does enjoy anything of this 
kind! Snowbound — a great white cat — began 
to follow on, but 
we brought her 
back. She often 
comes as far as 
Mr. Plummer’s to 
meet Mr. Doty. 

She was brought to 
him a year ago, to 
be cured of a hurt 
got in a trap, and was so grateful to him for curing 
her that she would not go back home. 

“ We took Snowbound into Mr. Doty’s house and 
amused ourselves with her and another cat, and 
looked at a sick hen that was lying in a basket with 
its head almost out of sight. There was any quan¬ 
tity of old umbrellas and parasols, and in one cor- 




152 


POLLY COLOGNE 


ner was a great pile of bayberry-bushes, and ever¬ 
lasting-flowers, and sweet-fern; a very spicy pile! 

“ All this time I was longing to run over to 
Goram’s woods, to see what was going on there, but 
did not like to leave Annetta. Presently a woman 
came, bringing something under her shawl which 
proved to be a bird-cage with a sick canary-bird in 
it. This woman was going to wait to see Mr. Doty, 
and I asked Annetta to stay with her while I ran 
over to Goram’s woods. Annetta said she would 
stay, and I found for her, on a shelf, an old picture- 
book with brown-paper covers which were marked 
over with ink drawings such as children make, as, for 
instance, boys with round bodies and straight marks 
for arms and legs, and houses with beds and chairs 
showing through the outside walls. The book used 
to belong to his little girl that died just after his 
wife died — a long time ago, that was. 

“ I left Annetta looking at the pictures, and ran. 
Just as I reached the woods, a boy came crushing 
through the bushes — a bright-faced, bob-capped 
little fellow, called by the boys, Towser. He said 
he had lost the other boys and that he thought he 




HUNTING A BOTANIST 


153 


was coming out in another place. ‘ Come with me/ 
I said. 

u We found a good path, and followed it into the 
woods for, say, a quarter of a 
mile. Here the path became 
narrow, so narrow that the 
bushes scratched our faces, 
but we kept on. Presently 
we heard voices; and a few 
minutes after we came to Ac¬ 
tivity, standing stock-still 
with all on board! Mr. Doty 
said a man had crossed the 
path about a dozen yards 
ahead of them, and from the things his hands were 
full of, he was sure it was our Man, but that he went 
across so quick there was no chance to halloo to him. 

“ ‘ Is there a path across that way? ’ I asked him. 

“ ‘ Not much of a path/ said Mr. Doty; ‘ but that 
kind of a man can get through almost anywhere.’ 

“ Mr. Doty said he had been trying to back Ac¬ 
tivity back to a place wide enough to turn him in, 
but he would not back. He said there were some 



THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE 
OF TOWS£R. 


154 


POLLY COLOGNE 


horses which never would back, and he supposed 
that one was one of that kind. He said he wanted 
to back out and turn him round, and so get out of 
the woods and ride round outside and catch the 
Man when the Man should come through at the 
side. He said it was twice as far to keep on as to go 
back the same way he came in. 

“ I asked Towser 
to climb a tree and 
look about; and up 
he went to the top 
of a tall tree. 

“ ‘ Do you see 
anything moving? ? 
I called up. 

u ‘ No, ma’am,’ 
he called down. 

“ ‘ Look away off 
outside/ said I. 

STOCK-STILL! (C a r, r 

After a few min¬ 
utes spent in peering this way and that, he cried, 
‘ I see something! ’ 

“ ‘ What is it? ’ shouted one of the Jimmies. 




HUNTING A BOTANIST 155 

“ ‘ A man.’ 

“ c Out of the woods? ’ I asked. 

“ ‘ Yes, ma’am! ’ 

“ 1 What is he doing? ’ 

“ ‘ Standing still.’ 

“ ‘ Now what is he doing? ’ 

“ ‘ He is fixing his things. He’s laying ’em all 
down on the ground. He’s putting some of ’em 
into boxes.’ 

“ ‘ I wonder which way 
he will turn when he 
starts/ said Mr. Doty so¬ 
berly. ‘ If he turns that 
way ’ (pointing behind), 

‘ you and Towser may 
meet him by going back 
the way you came in; but 
if he turns that way ’ 

(pointing forward), ‘ we 

.... . TOWSER GOES UP TO LOOK ABOUT 

may catch him by push¬ 
ing ahead. The path is better farther on; and if the 
Man should turn this way, we shall have a better 
chance than you.’ And on they went, the Jim- 






156 


POLLY COLOGNE 


mies holding their heads down out of the way of 
the bushes. 

“ Towser and I went back the way we came, and 
you would never suppose that a girl sixteen years 
old could be so earnest as I was to catch that mys¬ 
terious Man. I believe I was as earnest as little 
bob-capped, six-year-old Towser. Poor Towser! 
What do you think happened? I must tell you. 

“ As soon as we got out of the woods we hurried 
on till we reached a place where we could stand and 
look along on the outside. We saw the Man. He 
had ‘ fixed his things/ and had just started on his 
travels. Instead of travelling along the edge of the 
woods, he travelled from the woods, towards the 
road. Towser and I were about to follow when a 
man stepped up behind us and took Towser by the 
shoulder and said, sternly, ‘ So this is the way you 
do your errands! ’ 

“ The man was Towser’s father. Towser hung 
his head and began to sniffle. The fact was, that 
his mother was making jelly that afternoon. In the 
midst of it her sugar gave out, and she sent Towser 
to the store to get a two-pound bag of sugar. On his 


HUNTING A BOTANIST 


157 


way back with it he stopped at Mr. Plummer’s barn, 
and he liked the Mutual so much that he stayed. 

“ ‘ Where is the sugar? ’ asked his father. 

“ No answer, only louder sniffling. 

“ ‘ Where is the sugar? ’ 
asked his father again. 

“ ‘Inthe — Jimmyjohns’ 
barn — behind — the 
pumpkins!” answered 
Towser, in a faint voice. 

“ ‘ Go and get it/ said his 
father, ‘ and go home with 
it, and stay in the house till 
you have leave from me to 
go out. He must learn to 
come directly home when he is sent of an errand/ 
his father said, looking at me. 

“ I knew this very well, so I could not ask that 
Towser might wait to speak to the Man about 
Polly; but just as his father was leading him away 
I told him that if I should find out what had be¬ 
come of Polly, and get her back, and get the jack¬ 
knife, I would give it to him, as he was the one 



“this is the way you do 

YOUR ERRANDS " 









158 


POLLY COLOGNE 


who went up the tree and told where the Man 
was. 

“ When Towser left me I was just as sure of catch¬ 
ing the Man and speaking to him, as I was that I 
had eaten my breakfast that morning. I am small, 
but I am a fast walker, and he was not so very far 
off, and I saw that he stopped now and then to snap 
off something which grew by the stone wall; for he 
was walking along by a stone wall which divided 
that pasture from the next. I got so near him that 
he was no farther ahead of me than, say, four or five 
times the length of our house. 

“ He was a man, I should say, between forty and 
fifty years old; not at all a snug-looking man. His 
clothes were not snug, his shoes were not snug, his 
hat was not snug. He was not untidy, but every¬ 
thing about him seemed loose and easy, even to his 
hair and his shoestrings. He trudged on, his head 
bent forward, a tin box under each arm, and his 
hands full of what he had been getting. (Some 
things he had been getting stuck to his clothes; 
bits of moss, for instance, a brier or two, and 
mud.) 


HUNTING A BOTANIST 


159 


“ I trudged behind him about as far off, as I have 
just said, as four or five times the length of our 
house. All at once, as we hurried on and I came 
nearer, thoughts came to my mind. What should 
I say to him? How should I ask him? Should I 
say, ‘ Excuse me, 
sir, but were you 
ever seen in these 
parts with a rag- 
doll in your but¬ 
ton-hole? ’or/ Ex¬ 
cuse me, sir, but a 
few months ago a 
little girl of our 
place lost a small 
rag-doll named 
Polly Cologne: do 
you know who 
found her?’ I 
began to feel shy about running up to a stranger 
there in the pastures and asking such questions. 
And suppose he were not the Man? Not the one 
Mr. Goram saw with Polly in his buttonhole! (If 



THE UNCONSCIOUS BOTANIST STILL GOES ON. 





160 


POLLY COLOGNE 


she was Polly.) Up to that time all my thought had 
been, ‘ How shall I catch him? ’ Now my thought 
was, ‘ Shall I catch him if I can? ’ 

“ You will remember that we were travelling 
towards the road. While I was following the Man, 
and making up my mind what to do, and what not 
to do, I happened to cast my eyes along the road, 
and there I saw my father standing with Mr. Perry, 
in Mr. Perry’s yard. ‘ Good! ’ said I to myself. 
4 I’ll let Father speak to him.’ 

“ The Man climbed the 
fence into the road, and 
walked on towards Mr. Per¬ 
ry’s. I climbed over the same 
pane of fence, and stood there 
watching. And now did you 
ever hear anything so strange 
and so droll? When the Man 
had gone on as far as the old 
schoolhouse, about half-way to Mr. Perry’s, he met 
the Rockville coach, and stopped it. Some one in¬ 
side opened the door and he stepped in. As the 
coach came rattling past me I got a view of his face, 



NATSEV, TOO, CLIMBS THE 
FENCE. 




HUNTING A BOTANIST 


161 



STILL MOVING ON. 


a good face, with mild brown eyes and loose hair, 
partly gray, hanging about it; and that was all. 

“ All I saw, but not 
all I heard. Father and 
I know his name and 
where he lives. Mr. 

Francis Wetherell, 13 
Meando Place. Mr. 

Perry told Father. Mr. 

Perry sends him moss every fall; finger-moss; 
sends it by the bushel. Mr. Perry says no doubt 
he is our Man, for he often comes out here to 
scour the woods. I really think I shall call and 
see him next week when I go in town. It will be such 
fun, if Polly is in existence anywhere, to get her 
and fetch her to Annetta! I shall ask for his wife 
and tell her all about it. Perhaps it will amuse her. 
Or if he has no wife, he must have a sister or mother, 
for his clothes seemed well taken care of. I mean 
to keep the address private, if I can; for should 
Mr. Doty find it out, he might go there. It is just 
the kind of thing he would like to do. Oh, I must 
tell you that Activity brought them out of the woods 



162 


POLLY COLOGNE 


— those three in a row — and when I went to Mr. 
Doty’s house for Annetta I found them all there 
just arrived, and told my part of the story (except 
Mr. WetherelPs name and address). The Jimmies 
looked rather sober at having missed him; so I in¬ 
vited them home to take tea with us. 


CHAPTER X. 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS. 


T HE Botanist, Mr. Francis Wetherell, was not 
a married man. He boarded with a woman 
by the name of Hammond. It may seem strange 
that four people from 
the Land of Ease 
should have called to 
inquire of Mr. Weth- 
erell concerning Polly 
Cologne; but it can 
seem no stranger to 
any one than it did to 
Mr. Wetherell him¬ 
self. It was only the 
fourth caller who 
found out anything at 
all, and this was 

merely by accident and not from Mr. Wetherell, for, 

163 



THE WOMAN WHO NEVER BUYS ANY¬ 
THING OUT OF A CART. 





















164 


POLLY COLOGNE 


as we all know, Mr. Wetherell lost Polly in the 
street. 

Natsey Tompkins meant to keep Mr. WetherelPs 
name and address private, but they leaked out in 
some way, and people who had known the Blue 
Gentian Man was expected, said one to another, 
smiling, “ So the man did come, and his name is 
Wetherell, and he lives at Number Thirteen, 
Meando Place.” 

Natsey told her father it would be just like Mr. 
Doty — the Funny Man — to call at Mr. Wether¬ 
elPs and inquire; but she never thought of such a 
thing as that Annetta’s father should do it. Yet 
Mr. Plummer was the very first one. He went in 
one morning with a load of quinces, and as he drove 
through the city to the market, passed near Meando 
Place. “ I’ve a great mind just to call,” said he to 
himself, “ and speak to that Mr. Wetherell about 
Annetta’s little Polly-dolly. I should like very well 
to go home with it in my pocket. How Ma and all of 
them would laugh! ” Full of these thoughts he 

drove round to Number Thirteen, stopped his horse, 

\ 

got off his load, ran up steps and rang the bell. Mrs. 




MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 165 



Hammond herself opened the door, a thin, dark 
woman, neither old nor young. “ No,” she said be¬ 
fore Mr. Plummer had time to speak, “ we never buy 
anything out of a cart.” 

“ Does Mr. Wetherell 
live here,” Mr. Plummer 
asked. 

“ Yes, but he boards,” 
she answered. “ He won’t 
want any quinces.” 

“ I wish you would ask 
him to just step to the 
door a minute,” said Mr. 

Plummer. NATSEY feels a little bashful 

“ Katie! ” said Mrs. Hammond, going inside, 
“ run up and tell Mr. Wetherell there’s a man here 
wants to see him.” 

Mr. Wetherell came down in dressing-gown and 
slippers. “ Good-morning, Mr. Wetherell,” said 
Mr. Plummer. “ I am going to ask you a strange 
sort of question, but — ” 

“ Won’t you come in? ” asked Mr. Wetherell, 
politely. 























166 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Thank you/’ said Mr. Plummer, “ I must keep 
an eye on my horse. My name is Plummer. I live 
out at a little place called the Land of Ease. You 
know it is worth while, sometimes, to please the chil¬ 
dren. My little girl lost a rag-baby she was very 
fond of, and she heard you found one out there, and 
I thought I would just stop and inquire; that’s all.” 

But Mr. Wetherell only smiled, put his hand to his 
forehead and looked hard at the floor, as if trying 
to think. 

“ It was about two months ago,” said Mr. Plum¬ 
mer. 

“ Yes,” said Mr. Wetherell, smiling more than he 
had been smiling, “ I did find a thing of that kind, 
and I brought it to the city in my buttonhole, but 
I lost it somewhere in the street. I am very sorry.” 

“ Pray don’t trouble yourself about the matter,” 
said Mr. Plummer; “ it isn’t worth troubling your¬ 
self about. I thought I would just stop and inquire; 
that’s all. Good-morning.” 

Natsey Tompkins was in town, that same day, 
buying cloth and flannel for winter, and she thought, 
the same as Mr. Plummer, that it would be a pleas- 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 167 


ant thing to carry home Polly Cologne. She said 
to herself that Mr. Wetherell’s wife would like to 
hear the story of that rag-doll, if he really did find 
it and bring it into the house. Natsey felt a little 
bashful, going up the steps, but after ringing the bell 
she gained courage. “ Anyway,” she said to her¬ 
self, “ there’s no harm in doing this.” The door was 
opened by Katie. “ Does Mr. Wetherell live here? ” 
Natsey asked. 

“ Yes’m, he does,” replied the girl. 

“ I should like to see Mrs. Wetherell,” said Nat¬ 
sey, timidly. 

“ There isn’t any Mrs. Wetherell,” said the girl. 

“ I should like to see the lady of the house, then,” 
said Natsey. 

Natsey was shown into the parlor, and pres¬ 
ently Mrs. Hammond appeared. She looked at 
Natsey’s bag. “ Perhaps I may as well tell you, 
Miss,” said she, speaking quickly, “ that I never 
buy anything of people that bring anything round 
to sell.” 

“ Are you a relative of Mr. Wetherell’s? ” asked 
Natsey. 


168 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ No, I am not. He boards with me/’ said Mrs. 
Hammond. 

“ Then I should like to tell you my little story,” 
said Natsey. 

“ I make it a rule never to hear people’s stories,” 
said Mrs. Hammond. “ People are always coming 
with stories of one kind or another. Yesterday, it 
was a woman with a drunken husband and sick chil¬ 
dren; day before, it was a girl wanting work. But 
there are places you can go to for work,” she added, 
“ or for help either.” 

“ Do you know if Mr. Wetherell ever brought 
home a little rag-doll? ” asked Natsey. 

“ A rag-doll! ” exclaimed Mrs. Hammond. “ I 
never knew him to do such a thing. I don’t see why 
he should; there are no children here.” 

“ We heard,” said Natsey, “ that Mr. Wetherell 
found one out at the Land of Ease. Would you be 
willing to ask him? ” 

“ It isn’t at all likely, but I’ll ask him,” said Mrs. 
Hammond. 

Mrs. Hammond went up, and soon came 
back with the answer that he found one and 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 169 


brought it into the city, but lost it somewhere 
on the street. 

“ Thank you,” said Natsey; “ excuse me for trou¬ 
bling you. Good-morning.” 

Two days after this, a third person called; Mrs. 
Goram, wife of Mr. Jabez Goram, the old gentle¬ 
man. Mrs. Goram was visiting her son, young Mr. 
Jabez Goram. Young Mr. Jabez Goram kept a 
provision store not a great way from Meando Place, 
and this was why Mr. 

Plummer had driven 
around that way. He 
left some quinces at 
young Mr. Jabez Gor- 
am’s store. 

Mrs. Goram told 
her grandchildren all 
about Polly Cologne, 
and Rover, and An- 
netta, and the Jimmy- 
johns, and about Mr. 

Wetherell, the Blue 
Gentian Man, and where he lived. “ Why, that’s 





170 


POLLY COLOGNE 


close by! ” said one of the boys. Young Mr. Jabez 1 
Goram told his mother that Number Thirteen 
Meando Place was a boarding-house kept by a Mrs, 
Hammond, and that a Mr. Wetherell sometimes 
came to his store to leave orders for Mrs. Hammond . 
The grandchildren begged their grandmother to go 
and ask Mr. Wetherell if he found Polly and what 
he did with her. 

“ It would be nice, Grandma,” said one of the 
little girls, “ if you could get Polly Cologne for An- 
netta, and then we could all see Polly! ” 

“ Well,” said Grandma, “ I don’t suppose he’d 
mind being asked the question.” 

So the old lady put on her things, went round to 
Number Thirteen, rang the bell, called for Mr. 
Wetherell, and was shown into the parlor. Mr. 
Wetherell was just coming down stairs on his way 
out. 

Now Mr. Wetherell had an aunt living up in Ver¬ 
mont, whom he had not seen since he was a boy. 
He knew she was at that time in the city, and when 
he saw this old lady, he thought she must be his 
aunt. 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 171 


Still, not being sure, he only shook hands and 
said, “ How do you do? ” 

“ Middling well, I thank you/’ said Mrs. Goram. 
“ How do you do yourself? ” 

“ Quite well, I thank you, madam,” said Mr. 
Wetherell. 

“ Fine weather 
we are having,” said 
Mrs. Goram. 

“ Yes, very fine,” 
said Mr. Wetherell. 

•“ May I ask,” in¬ 
quired Mrs. Goram, 
after a short silence, 

“ if you ever go out 
to a place called the 
Land of Ease? ” 

“ Yes, madam, 

sometimes,” said Mr. Wetherell. “ Have you 
friends there? ” 

“ I live not far from there,” said Mrs. Goram. 
Then Mr. Wetherell knew that she was not his 



THE MAN WHO HAILED MR. DOTY. 


aunt. 































172 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Did you ever sir, pick up anything out there? ” 
asked Mrs. Goram. “ A child’s plaything, for in¬ 
stance? ” 

“ You don’t mean a rag-doll, do you? ” he asked, 
with a smile. 

“ Exactly,” said Mrs. Goram. 

“ I did find one,” 
said Mr. Wetherell, 
“ and I brought it 
away with me; but I 
lost it here on the 
street.” 

“ Then I suppose it 
will never be found,” 
said Mrs. Goram. 

“ If I had expected 
there would be so 
many inquiries,” said 
Mr. Wetherell, “ I would have been more careful. 
Two persons before you have been here on the same 
errand; a man and a young girl.” 

“ Indeed; ” said Mrs. Goram. “ But I won’t keep 
you from your business; good-afternoon.” 



SUCH CHILDREN AS WERE FOUND IK 
THE STREET NEAR BY. 










MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 173 


The fourth caller happened to call at exactly the 
right time for finding out that Polly Cologne had 
been carried to little Mary Bunting’s. He learned 
this from a boy whose name has been more than 
once mentioned in our story. This fourth caller 
was Mr. Doty —- 
the Funny Man. 

Mr. Doty had been 
away every day, 
mending umbrellas 
in Rockville and 
other places, and 
had not heard of 
the three calls Mr. 

Wetherell had re¬ 
ceived. He went to 
the city that day to 
get a supply of wire, 
whale-bone, and 
sweet oil, and he 
also thought that it would be pleasant to carry Polly 
Cologne to her home. He had no idea that any one 
else would think of the same thing. 



\M 

it/ 


LOOKING IN. 













174 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Mr. Wetherell was out when Mr. Doty called, and 
Mr. Doty sat down to wait for him. When Mr. 
Wetherell came in he was followed by a boy, a black- 
eyed little fellow with thick black curls coming out 
all round the edge of his cap, and a violin in his hand. 
The boy stood as if waiting for something. Mr. 
Wetherell looked hard at Mr. Doty. “ I think, sir, 
I have seen you before, somewhere,” said he, “ and 
now I remember where it was. It was when I was 
driving with a friend through a pleasant country 
place called the Land of Ease.” 

“ Yes; that’s where I live,” said Mr. Doty. “ My 
name is Doty.” 

“ I hope you have not come to inquire after a lost 
rag-baby,” said Mr. Wetherell, laughing. “ There 
have been three here already; a man, a young girl, 
and an old lady; a tall, slender old lady with a small 
head and face.” 

“ Yes, I know her,” said Mr. Doty, “ and the girl. 
The man might have been her father. Did they find 
what they came for? ” 

“ I am sorry to say they did not,” said Mr. Weth¬ 
erell. “ I once picked up a thing of that kind, and I 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 175 

wore it into the city in my buttonhole; but I took it 
out and stepped up on to some church steps to ar¬ 
range my flowers and things, and that was the last I 
saw of my foundling. It must have been an uncom¬ 
mon rag-baby to cause so many inquiries; why, it 
was only about so long,” (measuring with his fin¬ 
gers). 

“ Well,” said Mr. Doty, “ there has been a good 
deal of fun out there about it. You were seen with 
it in your buttonhole, 
and you were known 
to be coming for gen¬ 
tians, and you were 
watched for, and fol¬ 
lowed, but you got 
away from us.” 

“ Please, I know who 
picked up one on the “ SEEjBABY> WHAT SISTER ’ S GOTl ” 

sidewalk,” cried the little boy, earnestly coming for¬ 
ward. This boy was our old acquaintance, Tink. 

It will be remembered that Tink was at little Mary 
Bunting’s when Juliana Armstrong came there with 
Polly and the doll’s trunk, and was often there after- 



176 


POLLY COLOGNE 


wards and saw little Mary Bunting play with Polly. 
It will be remembered that Juliana and Aunt Sue had 
planned to gather the children of Spellman’s Court 
in little Mary Bunting’s room and give them fruit 
and flowers. It will also be remembered that Ju¬ 
liana sometimes sent Tink to Mr. Wetherell for 
flowers for little Mary Bunting. Mr. Wetherell had 
told her she might do this. He had promised her 
some pinks and heliotropes from his conservatory 
for the party, and Tink had come for them, as the 
party was to be that afternoon. 

When Juliana took Polly Cologne to little Mary 

Bunting, she told to her and 
Tink the whole story of the 
finding of Ethelinda, as she 
named the rag-doll, and how it 
had been sent here and there in 
a cake, a mouse-trap, a bouquet, 
and in other ways. Tink re¬ 
membered it all; and this was 
why he stepped forward so ear¬ 
nestly and said,“ Please, I know who picked up one! ” 
Mr. Doty began asking him questions, and in an- 



THE FUNNY MAN CON¬ 
CLUDES TO WAIT AND 
HEAR THE STORY. 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 177 


swer to these questions Tink told all he knew about 
Polly and little Mary Bunting, and told some things 
about himself, and the old Italian who used to beat 
him, and how kind Juliana had been, and spoke of 
what was going to be at little Mary Bunting’s in 
Spellman’s Court that afternoon. 

“ Now, Mr. Doty,” said Mr. Weth- 
erell, “ all you have to do is to go to 
the party in Spellman’s Court and ask 
for your Polly Cologne! ” 

“ If I go there, I shall have to hurry 
and finish up my errands,” said Mr. 

Doty; and he bade Mr. Wetherell a 
hasty good-by. 

Soon after Mr. Doty had turned A DOLL, LARGER 

THAN POLLY. 

the corner from Meando Place he was 
hailed by a man driving a carryall; a large, oldish 
man with rosy cheeks, frizzly gray hair, and wearing 
a felt hat; a black one. It was Mr. Goram; Mr. 
Jabez Goram, the old gentleman. He had driven in 
to get his wife. 

“ You seem to be in haste, Mr. Doty,” said Mr. 
Goram, stopping his horse. 





178 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Yes, I have errands to do, and I want to go out 
in the afternoon train,” said Mr. Doty. 

“ You can ride out with me and my wife, if you 
like to,” said Mr. Goram. “ We can take you as 
well as not.” 

“ I shall have some budgets,” said Mr. Doty. 

“ There’ll be room enough,” said Mr. Goram. 
“ Where shall you be with your budgets? ” 

Mr. Doty mentioned a market near Spellman’s 
Court. 

“ I am going there myself to do some errands,” 
said Mr. Goram. “ I brought in some sage and 
sweet-marjoram to sell for Mr. Plummer’s wife, and 
a few things of our own. You’ll find my horse 
hitched at the corner there, by Minturn’s.” 

“ Yes, I know,” said Mr. Doty, moving forward. 
“ Don’t wait for me if I’m not there.” 

Juliana Armstrong and Aunt Sue had gathered in 
little Mary Bunting’s room what children they found 
in the street near by, eight or ten in all. Pitiful little 
children they were! barefoot, bare-legged, un¬ 
washed, uncombed, with clothes such as could be 
begged or be picked out of ragbags. And oh, the 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 179 

faces of them! pinched, pale, care-worn, old-young 
faces! 

Little Mary Bunting sat propped up in bed, hold¬ 
ing Polly Cologne, and looking with moist eyes at 
the beautiful flowers spread out before her. Polly 
Cologne was of course dressed in her best things; the 
party dress she had on when she was lost — white 
gauze over pink. Little Mary Bunting’s mother 
and two women from across the passage looked in 
from the doorway. The children sat on the back 
of the bed or stood near or around it. Some of them 
smiled as they took their flowers and apples; others 
stared and looked up wonderingly at the two pleas- 

/r 

ant-voiced young ladies, as if to say, “ What does 
this mean — this kindness? ” Poor things! accus¬ 
tomed many of them only to hard words and abuse! 
Scarcely in their lives had they heard a gentle word. 
One child of five sat on the floor with her baby 
brother and tried to make him smell her flowers. 

When the flowers and apples had been given 
around, and Tink had played a few tunes on his 
violin, Juliana asked Aunt Sue what could be done 
to amuse the children. 




180 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Tell them the story of the famous rag-doll, 
Ethelinda,” said Aunt Sue. 

Just at this moment Mr. Doty walked into the 
room. “ I heard there was to be a party here,” said 
Mr. Doty, in his droll, sober way, “ and I thought I 
would come and bring something.” He then took 
from his pocket a paper of cakes and passed them to 
the children. Juliana saw that as he looked around 
upon the pitiful little group, the tears came into his 
eyes, though he winked very hard to keep them 
away; and that after all he had to take out his 
handkerchief. 

“ I believe I’ll wait and hear the story,” he said, 
looking at Juliana. 

Juliana began at the beginning, and told all about 
the light-colored molasses, and the finding of Ethel- 
inda by the church steps, and how she was sent back 
and forth between her cousin Luella and herself, and 
was brought at last to little Mary Bunting, and 
named Ethelinda. 

When Juliana had finished, Mr. Doty said, “ Now 
/ will tell a story.” Mr. Doty then told about the 
losing of Polly Cologne at the Land of Ease, by 


MR. WETHERELL RECEIVES CALLERS 181 


means of Rover, and how Mr. Wetherell found her 
and brought her to the city in his buttonhole, and 
lost her in the street; and that her true name was 
Polly Cologne, and that she belonged to Annetta 
Plummer; and told about 
the Jimmyjohns, and how 
they and Annetta had looked 
for Polly; and about the jack¬ 
knife reward; and how Mr. 

Wetherell was seen with Polly 
in his buttonhole, and was 
watched for and followed, and 
how he got away from them. 

“ Why, I never heard any¬ 
thing so strange! ” exclaimed 
Aunt Sue. 

“ Perfectly wonderful! ” cried Juliana. 

“ Of course Polly Cologne must be sent back,” 
said Aunt Sue. 

Little Mary Bunting looked sober. 

“ We can make another for little Mary,” said 
Juliana. 

Mr. Doty drew from his pocket a paper parcel, 



SPELLMAN’S COURT. 






182 


POLLY COLOGNE 


unrolled it, and held up a doll, larger than Polly, 
dressed in pink spangled gauze. Little Mary’s face 
brightened. “ I’ll change with you,” said Mr. Doty. 

“ This new one can be named Ethelinda,” said 
Juliana, “ and we will make her some every-day 
clothes.” 


CHAPTER XI. 


THE MISTAKE. 


I T was after supper at the Plummers’, but the table 
had been newly laid for two, the teakettle was 
boiling, and the teapot stood ready upon the stove- 
hearth. Annetta was un¬ 
dressing Joey Moonbeam; 
the others had been put to 
bed with their clothes on. 

Mrs. Plummer sat rocking 
Josephus in her arms. The 
Jimmyjohns and Effie, all 
three in their nightgowns, 
were rocking side by side in 
their little rocking-chairs 
and singing at the top of 
their voices, “ Sleep, baby, sleep! ” Presently the 
door opened and the Funny Man walked in with a 
large bundle of umbrellas. 



SUPPER FOR TWO. 


183 






















184 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Hush, children/’ said Mrs. Plummer. “ Here 
is Mr. Doty. Why, Mr. Doty, you haven’t been 
here for a long time! You must have been going on 
some of your umbrella trips.” 

“ Yes,” said Mr. Doty; “ though just now I’m 
from the city. I came in the cars, but as Mr. Goram 
told me he should stop here, I thought I would put 



“ SLEEP, BABY, SLEEP ! ” 


my bundles in his carryall. Have you heard any 
news from Polly? ” he asked, turning to the children. 

“ She’s lost! ” cried Annetta and the Jimmyjohns. 

“ Yes, lost! ” said Mr. Plummer, coming from the 
pantry with a mug of milk for Josephus. Mr. Plum¬ 
mer then told of his call upon Mr. Wetherell in 
Meando Place, and what Mr. Wetherell said. Just 
































THE MISTAKE 


185 


after his story had ended, noise of wheels was heard 
outside. He went to the door and met a large fleshy 
man coming in — Mr. Goram; Mr. Jabez Goram, 
the old gentleman. He had called to bring Mrs. 
Plummer the money he got for 
her sage and sweet-marjoram. 

“ Now, Mr. Goram,” said 
Mrs. Plummer, “ your wife 
must come in and you must 
both have your supper before 
you go home. There’s nobody 
at your house to get supper for 
you, and I’ve kept the table 
standing on purpose for you.” 

She whispered to Mr. Plummer 
and he ran out; and bv the 
time Mr. Goram told all the reasons why they 
could not stay; Mr. Plummer was back with Mrs. 
Goram. 

“ Oh, well,” said Mr. Goram, taking off his coat 
by slow degrees — for it was a close fit — “ it is no 
use for a man to go home without his wife. So 
you came by the cars, Mr. Doty? ” And Mr. 



“ IT IS NO USE FOR A MAN 
TO GO HOME WITH¬ 
OUT HIS WIFE.” 








186 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Goram seated himself in the arm-chair, well pleased 
to stay. 

“ Yes/’ said Mr. Doty: “ after seeing you I re¬ 
membered that I must stop at Rockville for these 
umbrellas I had left at the station.” 

Mr. Doty was coaxed to remain, and while the 
three guests were at supper Mrs. Goram told of her 
visit to Mr. Wetherell to inquire for Polly Cologne, 
and Mr. Plummer told them of his visit to Mr. Weth¬ 
erell to inquire about Polly Cologne. Annetta and 
the Jimmyjohns listened with sober faces to each 
story, especially to its ending: “ He found such a 
thing, but dropped it in the street.” 

“ I hope she did not get stepped on,” said An¬ 
netta, mournfully. 

“ Who knows,” said Mrs. Plummer, “ but that 
some nice little girl picked her up, and kept her to 
play with! ” 

“ It was a nice large girl that picked her up,” said 
Mr. Doty, speaking quite slowly, and as if it were a 
matter he cared not much about. Everybody in the 
room stopped doing whatever he or she was doing, 
and looked at Mr. Doty. 


THE MISTAKE 


187 


“ Her name was Juliana/’ said Mr. Doty in the 
same tone of voice. “ She had been with a tin pail 
to get some kind of light-colored molasses for her 
cousin Luella to make into candy. The storekeeper 
had no molasses of that kind, so the pail was empty. 
Juliana put Polly in the empty pail and sent her to 
that cousin Luella.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Doty! ” 
cried Annetta, “you 
are making all that 
story up! ” 

“ No,” said Mr. 

Doty, “ I saw ju- 
liana this afternoon 
and heard her tell 
it.” 

“ Where? where? 

What else did she 
say? Where does she live? Where’s Polly now? Can 
we have Polly back? ” Annetta and the Jimmyjohns 
crowded around Mr. Doty, pouring their questions. 

“ You may as well begin at the beginning, Mr. 
Doty,” said Mrs. Plummer. 



“CAN WE HAVE POLLY BACK?” 








188 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ Yes, begin at the beginning! ” said Mr. Plummer. 

“ Pray do! ” cried Mrs. Goram. 

“ I always tell my wife there’s no place like the 
beginning for beginning a story,” said Mr. Goram 
pleasantly, as he rubbed his fat hands together. 

“ I have — seen — Polly — to-day” said Mr. 
Doty, in a low voice. 

“ Oh! ” said Annetta, between a sigh and a groan. 

“ But that is not the beginning,” said Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer; “ we want the beginning.” And she put wraps 

around the children 
to keep them from 
taking cold. 

Mr. Doty began 
at the beginning 
and told just where 
Polly was picked 
up, and the different 
ways by which she 

“to keep them from taking cold.” 

was sent between 
Juliana and Luella. He used the words, “ And 
then” a great many times. For instance: after tell¬ 
ing about the tin pail he would say slowly, “ And 












THE MISTAKE 


189 


then she was sent in a frosted cake.” After telling 
about the cutting of the cake and Aunt Sue’s stand¬ 
ing her up in an empty goblet, he would say slowly, 
“ And then she went to an evening party.” After 
telling about the party, and how a boy waltzed with 
her and treated her to ice-cream in a nutshell, he 
would say slowly, “ And then she went to school.” 
After telling what happened to her at school he 
would say slowly, “ And then she was sent in a rat- 
trap.” After telling about the rat-trap he would 
say slowly, “ And then she was sent in a pumpkin- 
shell.” After telling about the pumpkin-shell he 
would say slowly, “ And then she was sent in a 
bouquet.” After telling about the bouquet he 
would say slowly, “ And then she was put in the 
trimmings of a girl’s hat.” “ And then she was sent 
in a bottle by express.” “ And then she was hid in 
a trunk and sent to the mountains.” The last “ And 
then ” was this: “ And then she was given to a little 
lame child, and the child’s name is Mary Bunting; 
and she lives with her mother in a room in Spell¬ 
man’s Court, and her mother gets drunk, and some¬ 
times they go hungry for want of something to eat.” 


190 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Mr. Doty told of the gathering of the poor children 
that afternoon in little Mary Bunting’s room, and 
of the flowers and apples brought there by Juliana 
and Aunt Sue. 

While Mr. Doty told his story there was scarcely 
a sound in the room. Josephus had dropped off to 
sleep. Nobody stirred; the children held their 

breath, waiting to hear what 
would come next. The grown 
people were nearly as much in¬ 
terested as the children. 

“ I do declare! ” Mrs. Goram 
exclaimed at the end. 

Mr. Goram’s broad face 
beamed with a pleasant smile, 
and he nodded his head sev¬ 
eral times, as if to say, “ Good, very good! ” 

“ Is that all true, every single word of it? ” asked 
Annetta, drawing a long breath. 

Every single word of it? ” repeated the Jimmies. 
Yes, every word,” said Mr. Doty. 

I think it is as good a story, Mr. Doty, as any 
you ever told,” said Mrs. Plummer. 



JOSEPHUS HAD DROPPED 
OFF TO SLEEP. 


U 


U 


U 





THE MISTAKE 


191 


“ But he did not begin at the beginning,” said Mr. 
Plummer. “ He did not tell how he found Spell¬ 
man’s Court, and that little lame girl there, and 
Juliana, and the poor children.” 

“ Oh, I went to Mr. Wetherell’s this forenoon,” 
said Mr. Doty, “ to ask him if he found Polly; and 
there I saw a little black-eyed, curly-headed boy 
called Tink. Juliana had sent Tink to Mr. Weth¬ 
erell’s for some flowers he was going to give her to 
carry to the poor children in Spellman’s Court. Tink 
had seen Polly down there, and he had heard Ju¬ 
liana tell this whole story, and when Mr. Wetherell 
spoke to me of dropping a rag-baby on the street, 
Tink told of one that had been picked up in the > 
street, and told me it had been carried to a child 
named Mary Bunting in Spellman’s Court, and told 
me what was to be done there this afternoon.” 

“ Who will have the jackknife reward? ” cried 
Mr. Plummer, suddenly. 

“ You will have to give it to yourself, Mr. Doty,” 
said Mrs. Goram. 

“ Why, Mr. Doty would not have found out where 
she was if Tink had not told him,” said Mr. Plummer. 


192 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“ And she would not have been there if Juliana 
had not picked her up in the street/’ said Mrs. 
Plummer, “ and she would not have been in the 
street if Mr. Wetherell had not dropped her there.” 

“ The jackknife will have to be divided between 
Mr. Wetherell and Tink and Juliana and Mr. Doty,” 
said Mr. Plummer. 

“ How can you divide a jackknife? ” asked An- 
netta. 

“ We haven’t got Polly yet,” said Mrs. Plummer. 
“ Perhaps the little lame child will not be willing to 
part with her.” 

“ Oh, yes,” said Mr. Doty, “ she was very willing 
to change a Polly for a dolly. Somebody that was 
there gave her a dolly.” 

“ Mr. Doty, when can we get Polly? ” asked An- 
netta, almost in a whisper. 

“ Don’t you want her now? ” asked Mr. Doty. 

Annetta stared at Mr. Doty, then looked towards 
his bunch of umbrellas. The Jimmyjohns began 
feeling in their pockets. 

“ Why! do you mean she has come? ” said Mrs. 
Plummer. 


THE MISTAKE 


193 


“ Yes/’ said Mr. Doty, rising. “ She is in the seat- 
box of Mr. Goram’s carryall. I will bring her in.” 

“ The seat-box of my carry- 
all, did you say? ” asked Mr. 

Goram. 

“ Yes, of the back seat,” said 
Mr. Doty. 

“ Why, there isn’t any seat- 
box to my carryall,” said Mr. 

Goram. 

“ What? No box to the back seat? ” cried Mr. 

Doty, going towards the door. 

“ No box to either seat,” said 
Mr. Goram. 

“ Are you sure? ” asked Mr. 
Doty, and went out without 
waiting for an answer. 

There was almost breathless 
silence in the room. It was 
broken by a sob from Annetta. 
She could not hold back her 
tears. Mr. Doty came back. No, there was no seat- 
box in the carryall. “ I certainly put a small bundle 



A SOB FROM ANNETTA. 



“what! NO BOX TO THE 
BACK SEATS ” 



194 


POLLY COLOGNE 


in the seat-box of some carryall,” said Mr. Doty, 
“ and put a large bundle under the seat, behind the 
buffalo-robe.” Annetta’s tears began to run down 
her cheeks; the Jimmyjohns looked more and more 
serious. “ The carryall was like yours, Mr. Goram,” 
said Mr. Doty, “ and the horse was an old black 
horse, like yours.” 

“ Was your name on the bundles? ” asked Mrs. 
Plummer. 

“ No, I believe not — yes! now I think of it, some 
of Polly’s things were put in an old envelope that I 
happened to have in my pocket, and the envelope 
was addressed to me.” 

“ Don’t cry, Annetta,” said Mrs. Plummer. “ If 
they are honest, they will write to Mr. Doty.” 

“ There are some people,” said Mrs. Goram, 
“ that won’t take as much trouble to do anybody 
a favor, as even to write a letter.” 

“ My name was not on the bundle that was under 
the seat,” said Mr. Doty, “ and they may not open 
the seat-box for some time.” 

“ What ‘ things 7 were put in that envelope? ” 
asked Annetta rubbing tears out of her eyes. 



THE MISTAKE 


195 


“ I don’t know exactly,” said Mr. Doty. “ Some 
kind of wearing things, aprons or bonnets, maybe.” 

“ I wonder if that girl made them,” said Annetta. 
“ I don’t mean that poor lame one, I mean the big 
one.” 

“ I have no doubt the big girl made them,” said 
Mrs. Plummer. 

Mr. Doty did not like to tell that Juliana sent the 
little trunk with all Polly’s every-day clothes in it. 
He had meant to surprise An¬ 
netta with this, and now he 
thought he would wait awhile 
and see if some news did not 
come from his bundles. 

It was just as Mr. Doty said 
about those bundles. The seat- 
box of the carryall was not 
opened for a long time. He knew when it had been 
opened, by receiving the following letter: 

“ Mr. B. H. Doty. Dear Sir: 

“lama little girl eight years and a half old. My 
pa is too busy to write a letter and my ma is sick, but 
my ma says somebody ought to write you a letter. 



MARTHA ANN WILSON. 


196 


POLLY COLOGNE 


If your name is Mr. B. IP. Doty, some of your things 
got put in Pa’s carryall. A good while ago Pa found 
a bundle that was not his under the seat of his carry- 
all. It had some whalebones in.it, and some wire, 
and a bottleful of oil and a pair of pinchers and more 
things. This bundle does not have any name on it. 
We did not open the box of the seat till yesterday. 
My aunt went in our carryall to buy her Christmas 
presents, and when she opened the box of the seat 
to put in some of the presents she found a bundle 
there that was in there before. Pa thinks it was put 

in there when that other 
bundle without any name 
on it was put under the seat. 
“ Mr. B. H. Doty ” is writ¬ 
ten on an envelope that is in 
the bundle that was in the 
box of the seat, and the 
name of the town you live 
in — if your name is Mr. 
B. H. Doty. The bundle that was in the box of the 
seat had in it the cunningest little rag-baby I ever 
saw, or that Ma ever saw, and the cunningest little 
trunk we both ever saw, with clothes in it to fit the 
rag-baby. Ma says that the little girl these things 
belong to ought to have them. Ma wants you to 
write a letter to Pa if you get this letter and tell 
him what to do with the bundles if they are 
your bundles, or tell him whose bundles they 
are if they are not your bundles, if you know. Pa 





THE MISTAKE 


197 


will write his name here and the name of the town 
he lives in. 

“ Martha Ann Wilson.” 

This letter came long after the bundles were lost, 
so that people had left off asking Mr. Doty if he had 
found those bundles. 


CHAPTER XII. 


WELCOME HOME AGAIN. 


O NE afternoon in the middle of December little 
Mr. Tompkins, the Lobster Man, brought 
Natsey a letter from the post-office. The letter 

came from the mother of 
the Rockville sailor who 
carried Rover to sea. She 
wrote that her son had 
been home and had left 
the little dog with her and 
had gone away. The dog 
was a dear little dog, and 
she would keep him until 
she should be told what to 
do with him. 

Natsey read the letter to her father, then led him 
to a corner of the room. “ Now father, hold up both 
hands,” said she, “ and repeat the words I shall 
speak. : 



uy 

MR. TOMPKINS PROMISES. 




198 



WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


199 


Mr. Tompkins held up both hands and repeated 
these words which Natsey spoke: “I promise not 
to tell anybody that Rover has come home from 
sea” 

“ Because, Father/’ said Natsey, “ I mean to ask 
her to keep him 
till almost Christ¬ 
mas and say noth¬ 
ing about him, and 
I shall give him to 
the Jimmyjohns for 
a Christmas pres¬ 
ent; and it is a great 
pity he cannot be 
hung on the tree.” 

A few days after 
this, Natsey went 
up to Goram’s 
Woods to pick out a 
Christmas-tree for Mrs. Plummer, and get alder- 
berries; and in crossing a pasture she met Mr. 
Doty, and he went to show her a good tree. 

“ You haven’t heard from those carryall bundles 



NATSEY CHOOSES HER TREE. 



200 


POLLY COLOGNE 


yet, have you? ” she asked, as they walked on to¬ 
gether. 

“ Oh, people have done asking me that question,” 
said Mr. Doty. 

“ I would give a dollar to have Polly back by 
Christmas,” said Natsey. 

“ All right,” said Mr. Doty, holding out his hand. 
“ I’ll take that dollar.” 

“ Now, Mr. Doty! ” cried Natsey, “ you don’t 
mean to say — ” 

“ Oh, no! ” said Mr. Doty. 

“ So you have not found her? ” said Natsey. 

“ I don’t mean to say,” said Mr. Doty, soberly. 

“ Oh, I know you’ve got her! I know by your 
looks! ” cried Natsey. 

“ Well, if you know, you can read this,” said Mr. 
Doty. And he took from his pocket Martha Ann 
Wilson’s letter. Natsey read it hurriedly. “ Have 
you actually got the bundles? ” she asked. 

“ Oh, yes. They came yesterday by express; but 
nobody knows it.” 

“ Do keep it private till Christmas,” said Natsey. 
“ Perhaps we’ll have Polly hung on the tree! ” 



WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


201 


“ Very well,” said Mr. Doty. 

“ I shall be there at the Plummers’, Christmas 
afternoon,” said Natsey, “ helping get the tree 
ready, and you can bring me the package.” 

“ Very well,” said Mr. Doty. 

Natsey was at the Plummers’ early on Christmas 
afternoon. “ Do, Natsey, go into the front room 
quick as ever you can,” said Mrs. Plummer, “ and 
help Aunt Emily 
about the tree; 
for somebody has 
to stay here and 
see to the chil¬ 
dren.” 

The children 
were in high glee, 

- . THE JIMMIES PEEP. 

rushing out and 

in, up stairs and down, watching when brown-paper 
parcels and pasteboard boxes were brought, or for 
whatever might happen. In passing into the entry, 
Natsey came upon the Jimmyjohns lying flat upon 
the floor trying to peep through the crack under the 
front-door room. They hurried away to the kitchen, 

































202 


POLLY COLOGNE 


and were just in time to meet Mr. Doty. Mr. Doty 
had nothing in his hand, but he found a chance to tell 
Natsey that he had hid the package in the barn. 
Mrs. Plummer told him to mind and be on the spot 
in time to see the tree and the fun. Mrs. Plummer 
did not know that Mr. Doty had left Polly in the 
barn, neither did she know that Mr. Tompkins had 
been to Rockville and got Rover. 

About an hour before it was time to light the tree, 
Natsey thought she would give Annetta and the 
Jimmyjohns the pleasure of having a secret to keep. 
She took the Jimmies into a corner of the entry and 
said to them softly, “ I am going to give you a secret 

to keep. Won’t you 
tell? ” “ No! ” they 

whispered. “ Stand up 
close,” said Natsey. 
They stood up close to 
her, and she put up her 
hands, one each side of 
her mouth, and bent down and whispered to them: 

“ Polly Cologne is here. Mr. Doty brought her. 
Annetta will have her when the tree is lighted. Don’t 



“won’t you tell?” 


WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


203 


tell anybody. We will surprise Annetta. Ij you can 
hardly help telling, stuff your handkerchiejs in your 
mouths. Now remember! Don’t tell! ” 

The Jimmies looked soberly at each other, walked 
into the sitting-room, and sat down in their chairs, 
both silent. They scarcely stirred, except to turn 
their heads now and then and look at each other. 
“ Why, boys! ” ex¬ 
claimed Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer, as she passed 
the door, “ what is 
the matter with 
you? ” They put 
their handkerchiefs 
to their mouths. 

“ Are you sick, you two little boys? ” she asked. 

“ They are only keeping a secret,” said Natsey, 
who put her head in just then to look for Annetta. 

“ Oh, is that all? ” asked Mrs. Plummer. 

Natsey found Annetta, took her aside, and said, 
“ If you won’t tell, I’ll give you a secret to keep.” 
Annetta promised not to tell. Natsey then put up 
her hands, one each side of her mouth, and told An- 



THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP THE SECRET- 









204 


POLLY COLOGNE 


netta in a whisper that the Rockville sailor had 
brought Rover home, and that her father had been 
to Rockville and got him, and that he would bring 
him to the Christmas-tree that evening for a present 
for the Jimmyjohns. “ Now don’t tell,” said Nat- 
sey, “ for we want to surprise the Jimmyjohns. 
Don’t tell anybody,” she said, holding up her fore¬ 
finger as she squeezed herself through the narrow 
opening of the front-room door. 

Annetta went skipping through the sitting-room 
clapping her hands, singing, “ Oh, oh, oh! Oh, oh, 
oh! Oh, oh, oh! Oh, oh, oh! ” Then she hugged 
Effie, then she hugged the Jimmyjohns, then she 
hugged Joey Moonbeam, then she hugged Josephus, 
then skipped, and clapped, and sang, “ Oh, oh, oh! ” 
faster than ever. The Jimmyjohns got tired of sit¬ 
ting still, and hopped up and capered around the 
room like two little wild boys. Mrs. Plummer com¬ 
ing in, found them rolling over and over on the floor 
with their handkerchiefs stuffed in their mouths; 
Annetta skipping and singing; Effie trying to do the 
same, while Josephus toddled about and picked him¬ 
self up as fast as he was knocked over. 


WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


205 


Aunt Emily’s family came at four o’clock; Uncle 
John and his family came soon after Aunt Emily’s 
family, and Air. Doty came soon after Uncle John’s 
family. “ Where’s your father, Natsey? ” asked 
Airs. Plummer. 

“ Oh, he’ll be here by the time the tree is lighted,” 
said Natsey. 

The tree was lighted at five o’clock. At five min¬ 
utes past five, the front-room doors were thrown 
open and the children 
marched in, followed 
by the grown people. 

Joey Aloonbeam, Dor¬ 
othy Beeswax, Eudora 
N. Posy, Susan Sugar- 
spoon, Jenny Popover 
and Betsey Ginger 
were already there, 
sitting on their high 
seats.(made of paste¬ 
board boxes), each with a wreath of red berries on 
her head. 

Just as the people were going into the room, who 



THE GORAM CORNBALLS. 





206 


POLLY COLOGNE 


should appear but Mr. Goram; Mr. Jabez Goram, 
the old gentleman. (Mr. Doty saw him outside and 
gave him a hint.) Mr. Goram said he was going 
to the station to get his son, young Mr. Jabez Goram, 
and thought he would stop. “ For I always like to 
see happy children,” said Mr. Goram, his round rosy 
face beaming with a smile, and his hands busy in 
opening an immense package. “ My wife wanted 
to send you some of our Goram cornballs,” said 
he, “ but I’m afraid they won’t go on to the 
tree.” 

On to the tree indeed! Such cornballs as those 
Goram cornballs were! Why, they were bigger 
than cocoanuts! The Jimmyjohns had to hold 
theirs each in his two hands in order to take 
a bite. Effie’s more than filled her arm-basket; 
Josephus’ was hung with a short string around his 
neck and made him look almost like a two-headed 
baby! 

Among the presents were some papers of flower 
seeds for the children, marked, “ From your friend 
Francis Wetherell.” Joey Moonbeam had a pair 
of eyeglasses which just fitted her, and which were 


WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


207 


placed upon her eyes amid shouts of laughter from 
the company. Then the names of the others were 
called: 

“ A string of beads for Eudora N. Posy; ” “ A 
hat and feather for Betsey Ginger; ” “ A blue cape 
and tassels for Dorothy Beeswax; ” “ A red cape 
and tassels for Susan Sugarspoon; ” “A red pet¬ 
ticoat for Jenny Popover! ” 

The last present given out surprised everybody 
but Natsey and Mr. Doty. “ A trunk for Polly 
Cologne! ” cried Aunt Emily, 
handing Annetta a doll’s trunk 
which Natsey had been keeping 
back. While the trunk was be¬ 
ing passed to Annetta, Natsey 
stepped to the door and reached 
out her hand and struck a little 
bell. Her father was waiting for 
the sound of that bell. At a few 
minutes past five he had come 
privately into the back kitchen with Rover. Nat¬ 
sey had slipped out and given Polly to her father 
and told him this: 



JOEY MOONBEAM TRIES 
HER EYE-GLASSES. 





208 


POLLY COLOGNE 


“At the sound of the bell, make Rover take Polly 

t 

in his mouth and bring her into the front room.” 

The front room was in a state of confusion. 
Grown people were talking and laughing; boys and 
girls were having fun over the presents; the Jimmy- 
johns were trying their harmonicas; Effie was jin¬ 
gling Josephus’ rattles. The only quiet ones were 
Annetta, who was sighing over the trunk sent to 

Polly Cologne, and 
Josephus. Josephus 
had crept under the 
table where Effie 
had placed her arm- 
basket for safety, 
and had helped him¬ 
self to her cornball, 
which he was trying to get to his mouth over his own. 

Suddenly, without a word of warning, in rushed 
Rover with Polly Cologne in his mouth! 

“ Why! why! ” “ What is it? ” “ Rover? ” 

“ Oh, no! ” “ Not Rover! ” “ Some other dog! ” 
“ Can’t be Rover! ” “ Polly Cologne? ” “ Oh, no! ” 
“ Oh, no! ” “ Can’t be Polly! ” “ Some other rag- 










WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


209 


baby! ” cried the people, talking all at once. But 
Rover soon settled the matter. Rover! he acted 
like a crazy dog. He 
dropped Polly; he sprang 
upon the Jimmyjohns; he 
sprang upon Annetta; he 
sprang upon Mr. Plum¬ 
mer; he sprang upon 

1 l o i ROVER SETTLES THE QUESTION. 

Mrs. Plummer; he sprang 

upon Josephus; he sprang upon Effie; he whisked 
round and round; he rolled over and over; he 
squealed; he barked; he whined; he shook his 
tail; he flattened himself upon the floor; and 
when the company saw it was really Rover, the 
shouts and clappings, and the jumping up and 
down, were enough to make anybody deaf. The 
Jimmyjohns hugged him, and rolled on the floor 
with him, and he licked their faces, and licked 
Josephus’ face, and licked Annetta’s face, and 
licked Effie’s face, and shook, and quivered, and 
wriggled, and went round and round in a circle 
until the people said he would go off into a fit, and 
asked if there were any laudanum in the house. 




210 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Meanwhile, Annetta had picked up Polly. “ Is 
she Polly? ” the people cried, when they could get 
their breath. “Yes, she’s Polly! ” said Annetta. 
“ She has on her same clothes she was lost with! ” 
“ Yes, she’s Polly! ” cried the people. “ She has 
on the same clothes she was lost with! ” And then 
came more clappings and shoutings, and jumpings 
up and down, and everybody shook hands with Polly 
and said, “ Welcome home again, Polly! ” and shook 
hands with Rover and said, “ Welcome home again, 
Rover! ” and there never was such a time before — 
no, never! And then just as people were getting 
quieter, Natsey came bringing from behind the tree 
a collar for Rover, marked with his name, and an 
immense chain, six yards long, made of the red lob¬ 
ster-feelers Mr. Tompkins had been bringing An¬ 
netta to make a chain for Polly Cologne when she 
should be found. Then came more clappings and 
shoutings and jumpings up and down, and it seemed 
as if they never would end. And when they were 
ended they had to begin again, for Annetta found 
the key of the trunk hanging from one of the handles, 
and opened the trunk, and there were all the clothes 



WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


211 


Juliana made for Polly when she gave Polly to little 
Mary Bunting! Aunt Emily’s little girl and Uncle 
John’s little girls sat with Annetta on the floor 
around the trunk, and saw the clothes taken out, and 
said, “ Oh! ” “ Oh! ” “ Oh! ” and Uncle John’s 
big boys and Aunt Emily’s big boy and the older 
people stood around outside and said, “ Oh! ” 
“ Oh! ” “ Oh! ” and at last Rover sprang in the 
midst of them all and snatched up Polly in his mouth, 
and ran, and was chased with shouts of “ Drop her! ” 
“ Drop her! ” till he dropped her. Annetta locked 
her up in the trunk, and then Mr. Doty told that 
Juliana sent the trunk when she sent Polly. 

“ But how did you hear from the bundles? ” 
asked Mr. Plummer. 

“ The bundles you left in the carryall that was 
not mine,” said Mr. Goram. 

“ Oh, Martha Ann wrote me all about the bun¬ 
dles,” said Mr. Doty in his droll, sober manner. 

“ Pray who is Martha Ann? ” “ Tell us about 
Martha Ann! ” “ Martha Ann! ” “ Martha Ann! ” 
shouted the big boys and the little boys, and the big 
girls and the little girls, and the grown folks. 


212 


POLLY COLOGNE 


Mr. Doty took Martha Ann Wilson’s letter from 
his pocket and gave it to Natsey, and Natsey read 
it aloud. There was a tremendous clapping at the 
end, and when one of the big boys said, “ Three 
cheers for Martha Ann! ” the cheers were given with 
a will, Rover barking in concert, and Josephus crow¬ 
ing at the end. 

Then the boys must give three cheers for Juliana 
and three cheers for little Mary Bunting; and when 
it was found that Juliana’s Aunt Sue sent the collar 
to Rover and the presents to be hung on the tree for 
Joey Moonbeam, and Betsey Ginger, and Susan 
Sugarspoon, and Dorothy Beeswax, and Eudora N. 
Posy, and Jenny Popover, there were three cheers 
for Juliana’s Aunt Sue, and then three cheers for 
Mr. Wetherell. 

“ Because he found her,” said Annetta after the 
cheers had been given. 

“ But it was Mr. Goram that let us know that 
Mr. Wetherell found her. Mr. Goram saw her in 
Mr. Wetherell’s buttonhole! ” said Natsey. Then 
came three cheers for Mr. Goram. 

“ But Mr. Doty found out she was at Spellman’s 


WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


213 


Court with little Mary Bunting/’ said Mrs. Plum¬ 
mer. Then came three cheers for Mr. Doty. 

“Jackknife! jackknife! Who’ll have the jack¬ 
knife, when so many helped to find her? ” cried little 
Mr. Tompkins. 

“ Let’s turn it into two great big, banging, thick, 
warm blankets for little Mary Bunting,” cried Nat- 
sey, “ and we’ll all 
help buy them! ” 



“Yes! ” “Yes! ” 
“That’s it!” 
“ That’s the kind of 
talk!” “Blan¬ 
kets! ” “Blankets! ” 
cried the people. 


“ How can you 
turn a jackknife 
into blankets? ” 


WHAT LITTLE MARY SAW WITH HER OWN 
EYES. 


asked Annetta. 

“ This is the way! ” cried the big boys and the 
grown people, taking out their pocketbooks. 

“ I said I’d give a dollar to have Polly come home 
at Christmas,” said Natsey, “ and I’ll knit mittens 




214 


POLLY COLOGNE 


quick as a grasshopper, and earn that dollar quick 
as five hundred grasshoppers, and make it help turn 
that jackknife into blankets quick as a thousand 
million grasshoppers! And now while the apples 
and nuts are being passed round,” said she, “ I will 
r:ad you this letter Juliana sent you to be read this 
evening. I have been to see Juliana, — did you 
know that? And I have seen little Mary Bunting. 
This is the letter: 

“ Dear Annetta and the Jimmyjohns: 

“ I am very glad you have got back Rover and 
Polly Cologne. I wish I could be at your Christmas- 
tree, but we have a tree at my cousin Honora’s for 
her three little brothers, and I must be there. I wish 
you would ride into the city some day with your 
father, and come to my house, and I will take you to 
see little Mary Bunting, and you might bring Joey 
Moonbeam! Aunt Sue and I mean to come out to 
the Land of Ease next spring and call at your house 
and see you all, and we shall be disappointed if we 
do not see Joey Moon-beam, and Dorothy Beeswax, 
and Betsey Ginger, and Susan Sugarspoon, and 
Eudora N. Posy, and Jenny Popover, and Polly 
Cologne, and Rover. Perhaps Mr. Wetherell will 
come with us, and show us where to find the beauti¬ 
ful wild flowers which he says are so plenty in your 


WELCOME HOME AGAIN 


215 


woods and pastures and swamps. And perhaps some 
day when your father comes in town you will send 
some of those wild flowers to little Mary Bunting. 
That would please her greatly. Wishing you all a 
merry Christmas, and with love to you all, I am 
“ Your friend, 

“ Juliana Armstrong.” 

Whoever would learn all about the visit of An- 
netta and the Jimmyjohns and Joey Moonbeam to 
little Mary Bunting’s, and the visits of Juliana and 
her Aunt Sue and Mr. Wetherell to the Plummers’; 
and how little Mary Bunting was actually brought 
out there and saw with her own eyes the fields 
abloom with buttercups and daisies; and how Tink 
came out there and lived with Mr. Doty, and worked 
on Mr. Goram’s farm, and helped Mr. Tompkins in 
his lobster work; and of the curious pranks Tink 
played; and of the flower-garden Annetta and the 
Jimmyjohns had together, and what they did with 
the flowers, — whoever would learn all these, may 
do so simply by taking a journey to that charming 
neighborhood, the Land of Ease. 







































































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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


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